Star Wars: Darkened Ice
by Aspiring-Creator
Summary: With his failure still fresh in his mind, the dark warrior Kylo Ren decided to act upon a hunch and headed to a far off galaxy where he hoped to find two women that used to bear his family name in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, he could find new allies to join his battle against the loathsome Resistance. Rated M for disturbing content, language and violence. (Ch. 32 is out!)
1. Chapter 1

**_(Opening Crawl)_**

 _A long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away...  
_

 **STAR WARS  
**

 **DARKENED ICE**

 **Unrest spreads! Although Starkiller Base has been demolished,  
the sinister FIRST ORDER continues to reign supreme  
with their efforts in hunting for the last surviving Jedi as well as his  
new apprentice refusing to cease.  
**

 **With their hope quickly dwindling, the RESISTANCE struggles  
to find its footing and continue the fight while the behemoth  
continues to carve a path of destruction throughout the stars.  
**

 **One key part is missing however.  
Far beyond the reaches of even the Unknown Regions,  
against the orders of the Supreme Leader, an apprentice  
searches for a presence that could result in dignity  
being restored to the DARK SIDE...  
**

* * *

( _The Milky Way Galaxy_ )

Space, such a quiet and peaceful place. With its shimmering dots known as stars shining bright against dark emptiness alongside several different worlds, almost any person could find immediate solace and peace in just staring out and letting your mind run wild with its imagination. However, like all good things, there must always be a counter, for every person who looks to the galaxy for solace, there is always one who thinks of it as a reminder of what they could have. A reminder that if one has enough power, they could go across the land, taking each system over one by one, building an army so powerful and so vast that there would be no one to challenge or abuse you.

This was the mindset of a certain masked man whose massive fleet came ripping through the peaceful void, only to stop right when they were just a few feet away from a blue and green world and throughout the entire length of the trip, that man, the villainous Kylo Ren, stared out into the emptiness, letting his mind wander over these very thoughts. On occasion, he would turn to respond to passing staff members, Hux or just anyone that walked by at that moment but for the most part, he just stared out into the void and kept quiet.

It had been a few months now since his very first and what he thought to be a minor failure and that was when he lost FN-2187, a single trooper which he thought would be killed with ease but little did he know at the time, that one moment would then lead to him gaining the map to Luke and even further down the line, the destruction of the First Order's glorious weapon that was made in tribute to his late grandfather's own.

Remembering that day filled Ren up with a fury like no other, a fury that he'd usually use up slashing various pieces of equipment or troopers but in the case of this time, he felt it was far more personal. Not only did that girl best him but he felt she also destroyed his dignity, left him broken and embarrassed to the point where he couldn't even find the strength to stand and had to have various troopers help him hobble back to his ship.

During this small little moment of reminiscing, the Dark Lord raised his hand up to his originally clean face and began to trace a single finger from the bottom of his scar up to his newly yellowed eyes, showcasing just how much more immersed he was in the Dark Side. But to him, it was nothing and when he looked at his faint reflection on the bridge of the Star Destroyer, he saw not a master like his grandfather before him, rather he saw a weak, frail fool who was far too powerful for his own good. To him, the failure was completely the fault of him and him alone since had he not let his guard down or become so reckless, he would've actually won but instead, he made the exact SAME mistake as his grandfather did and let his confidence become his undoing. With his gaze still locked on the vastness of space, Kylo slowly moved his hand away from his face and proceeded to flatten it against the glass as he let out a simple whisper.

"When I find you again desert girl," He began with a low sinister voice that was trailing dangerously close towards being a growl. "may the Force have mercy for I will not. Not only did you make a mockery of me and the First Order but you've completely removed all dignity from the Dark Side, dignity that we were working so hard to restore. So let it be known that when I find you, I will not just slice you into pieces, I will crush your internals, break every bone, destroy everything and everyone you once loved until you're nothing but a lonely husk who now knows the true might of the Dark Side."

"Don't linger on her." A voice sounded off from out of the blue right as Ren felt a sudden warmth encompass his right shoulder. When he turned, he saw the face of the one commander he always dreaded to hear from but respected nevertheless, General Hux. "After all, it is you who initially decided to go on this little fetch quest of yours against the orders of Supreme Leader Snoke who may I remind you stated that if anything happens this time, he's..."

"Not going to show me anymore mercy." Ren finished with a solemn voice with minor hints of anger before letting out a small sigh. "I know, but you can't deny the fact that my master let me take this mission because he also felt the presence in the Force as much as I did." In response, Hux just let out a sigh of his own.

"Regardless, it has been ten days since you felt the presence and it took another five to get where we are," Hux began. "and do I even need to mention the fact that we pulled thousands upon thousands of worthy troopers out here who should be fighting the battle against that blasted Republic and instead, we're risking it all over a hunch which will most likely turn out not to be true." Usually if this was any other officer, the worst they could expect from Kylo was a beam of hot condensed energy rammed deep into their stomach before leaving their lifeless bodies to be dumped out the airlock by a group of loyal sanitation officers but Hux he knew was one not to try it with. To him, no matter what the situation may be, he knew that if Snoke gave him someone he trusted that he better damn well keep them safe and unlike the others, Hux proved that he was the best from the very moment he was brought on board.

Despite being fresh off his training and thus he lacked the patience of many older officers on board, Hux displayed a great deal of ferocity, unwavering loyalty and a great deal of tact unlike most of those that he had seen before. Unlike many troopers, Hux actually was able to understand the Force far more thanks to his discussions with both Ren and Snoke and as far as his leadership skills were concerned, they were what led to many a victory. Knowing this full well, the Dark Lord instead just signaled for his general to walk with him back to his chambers and continued their conversation as they went along.

"Why is it that you continue to defy me general?" He questioned. "With your feelings being this strong, one would think you would've abandoned ship by now."

"So that way you can run the First Order into the ground?" Hux asked with a scoff. "Spare me the arrogance, I was given strict orders by Supreme Leader to accompany you on any and all missions."

"Only because you are providing the funding and our troops." replied Kylo.

"It's because of my training in dealing with those who have temper tantrums that I have to always keep an eye on you."

"And why is that?"

"Have you forgotten the several times you've nearly killed those who had important information leading us to our goals?"

"Those times are insignificant and in the distant past, I don't dwell on th-"

"And yet you still dwell on her." Kylo immediately came to a halt, his now shaking hands just barely grasping his mask. Realizing he struck a nerve, Hux just remained silent, knowing what Ren would do next and sure enough, in the next few moments when Ren finally spoke again, his voice had once again become that of a low growl with maybe some slight cracks in between sentences.

"She humiliated me." Kylo said as he raised the mask to his face.

"And yet despite how strongly you feel about it," Hux began. "you are not going to resolve the very issue that fuels your anger and are instead worrying about a ridiculous hunch! A hunch that if it turns up nothing will most likely get us all killed! What if the Resistance has a copy of this information?! By this point, we are nothing but sitting ducks out here while our troopers are being WIPED off the face of the galaxy! And soon, they will come for us... and let me tell you Kylo Ren, regardless of my position... I absolutely REFUSE to sit here while you run this fleet into the gr-"

"Commander Ren!" One silver, feminine caped trooper called out, cutting off Hux in almost an instant.

"What is it Captain?" Kylo asked right as he locked his helmet shut.

"We've found a small landing zone but it's nearby a small village, what are your orders on that?" Immediately, Hux turned towards his superior, knowing full well that he still was reeling from their previous chat and so he felt he had a clear idea on what his order would be. Dead silence was present in the room with both sets of eyes still staring at the Dark Lord with curiosity about his answer still present in their minds. After a few seconds, Ren slowly looked over towards his prized possession, the charred, damaged helmet of his grandfather and after a few seconds of staring and an eternity of silence, he finally made his decision.

"Sir?" Phasma asked with concern. In response, Ren calmly turned his head towards her and uttered a simple order.

"They could be of use to us." He began as he raised his hood and proceeded to walk towards the direction of the hanger bay. "Come with me, if they have an elder they might be able to provide us with intel on the girls' location and if they don't, you know what to do." With a simple nod, Phasma was just about to make her way down the direction Ren was heading when Hux stopped her by quickly jerking his arm out in front.

"Keep a close eye on him." ordered Hux. "He's not exactly the most emotionally stable after what happe-"

"Don't fret General." Phasma commented. "I'm still reeling as well, at least this will provide us some relief." With that, Phasma continued down her merry way right after shoving Hux's arm out of the way, leaving him to watch as the metal doors quickly shut. A few seconds later and with a sigh, the young general slowly turned towards the burnt helmet in the room and let his mind wander.

"I honestly wonder what you would've done had you survived." Hux thought to himself. He remained in the room for a few more seconds, taking in the reality what they were about to embark on and then turned to make his way back to his station to prepare for the attack.

* * *

( _Undisclosed Village_ )

Darkness shrouded the snowy landscape and unlike the vastness of space, it wasn't exactly the most peaceful of times, despite what the serene setting would have you believe and no one knew this better than the one old man sitting peacefully in his home, looking at various photos of an average brown-haired male youth along with his two friends, one male and one female. Letting out a small sigh followed up by a brief cough, the elderly man began to lightly rub the photo with his thumb as he began to speak in a low whisper.

"If only I could see how much you've grown." The elder said to himself with a calm caring voice. "Hopefully you've kept out of trouble Tatsumi and I hope that you will come back very soon with your friends." Stopping for a moment to relight a small candle, he let out another coughing fit right as he set it down on a nearby counter. "It's hard to believe that it has been only a few months since you left on your journey since admittedly, it feels like it has been far longer than that. It has been so long in fact that so many villagers are actually wondering if you're even alive..." Soon, a low hum was sounding off in the elder's ears but due to it being so faint, he didn't care and instead continued to sit there and eye the small photo.

"...and as much as I hate to admit it, I'm starting to have my doubts as well so all I'm hoping is that you do come back safely and very soon as I fear that it won't be long before some dreaded Danger Beast comes to rip us apart." Suddenly, a few seconds later, that humming noise became a loud screech that caused his eyes to shoot open, his hands to lose their grip on the photo and finally, the candle completely went out. A few seconds later as he stood up, the elder watched as one citizen ran into his room with clear fear in his eyes.

"Elder! There are multiple flying objects in the sky and they're heading towards us!" He shouted.

"Flying objects? What exactly are you talking about? I have no time to hear about nonsense."

"Sir this is urgent!" Despite his sheer disbelief at what he was hearing, the unknown screeching was still filling him to the brink with fear and yet he didn't know why. After a few seconds, the elder immediately began to follow the villager out and was immediately greeted by bright red lights along with a few box shaped ships beginning to land. Soon after, what looked to be a docking door flew open and out came several what appeared to be soldiers but unlike any he had ever seen with their sleek white and black armor and what appeared to be guns of some kind.

"By god..." He muttered to himself as he watched multiple villagers beginning to back away in fear as the soldiers began to point their weapons towards them while shouting out several commands.

"GET BACK! NOW! NOW!" Despite them only being orders, the elder could still feel the rage and hatred emanating from their voices, as if they were being held on a leash and were ready to shoot at any moment's notice. Finally after a few more seconds, the large ship with red lights landed and soon after, two troopers quickly shifted their attention towards him.

"You there!" One of them called out before signaling to a second trooper to come along.

"Are you the elder?" They said with a gruff male voice. Not willing to be bullied by a couple of strangers, the old man gave the troopers an evil look.

"Excuse me?" Unfortunately, that was the wrong answer since the second trooper leaned in closed and grabbed him by the arm before proceeding to roughly yank it until he was so close to the helmet that he could practically smell the breath of the man under it.

"Let's try that again. Are you the elder?!" With his strength unfading, the old man still kept his serious expression.

"I am but I refuse to be bullied by strangers I don't kn-"

"SHUT UP!" The trooper shouted right as he jerked his knee upward into the elder's stomach, causing him to immediately fall to the ground face first right as a loud gasp was heard from the rest of the villagers. Being left to groan and moan in pain, the elder felt as he was roughly hoisted upwards by the troopers who proceeded to drag him across the ground towards the large winged ship that was about to land.

"For your sake," The soldier who kneed him began. "I hope you don't anger the commander, villager scum, now get up!" Soon after, the soldiers forced the man up to his feet and slowly loosened their grip on his arms before immediately moving to point their guns directly towards the back of his skull. At that point, the elder didn't exactly know what he was in for until the hanger door on the sleek black ship dropped open, revealing even more troopers including one who had shining metallic armor along with a black and red cape but the one he had his sights set on the most was the man draped in a dark cloak with a simple looking metal mask that just barely concealed the massive evil aura that surrounded him and it was at that point that the man finally got the message of just how severe this was and so he silenced himself and simply watched as the cloaked figure slowly made his way towards him.

"Who are you?" The elder questioned, trying his best to keep calm.

"My apologies for the... rough introduction," The man began with his rough, robotic tone. "I am Kylo Ren, leader of the First Order and that's the only bit of information you'll get out of me for now but if you can cooperate with us and give out what we need then I can assure you that we will leave your village in peace." At that point, the old man didn't know what to say. Not only was the "apology" lacking sympathy and compassion but he essentially demanded that they give him what he needed while threatening him with death if he couldn't which filled him up with such a boiling rage to see his people treated with such hostility. Despite this, the old man held his tongue and simply looked his assailant in the eyes.

"Alright then, I'll play along with this. What is it that you seek and where have you come from?" He asked.

"That second half is insignificant." Ren began with a voice cold as ice. "All you need to know is that we've traveled far and wide to locate two individuals, both are female who I believe to have some form of connection to my family." As Kylo was speaking, the elder couldn't help but look around a bit at the faces of all his fellow villagers which were filled with such fright and despair as the troopers continued to have their weapons centered on them. A few seconds later, he felt as one trooper to his left quickly jerked his head back towards Ren right as he muttered a small threat towards him.

"Have you seen them?" Almost immediately, the elder tightened his lips together, indicating that he wasn't going to speak.

"It's an honest question." Kylo said, seemingly unfazed by his actions. "For your sake, I suggest you change your decision." Despite this, the elder still said nothing. After a few seconds of waiting, Ren gave a quick gesture towards the troopers and almost immediately, they proceeded to back away.

"Perhaps you aren't aware of the stakes at hand." Kylo began with a voice low and sinister. Suddenly, the cloaked figure jerked his arm out towards the elder and almost immediately, the man felt as his old body was sent flying through the air and straight through the snow, his bones cracking as they hit the hard rock beneath it all.

"ELDER!" One villager cried out right as they began to run towards him, only to be then kicked down to the ground by a nearby trooper.

"Stay still scum!" At that point, the man could only watch with fear as the cloaked assailant began to make his way towards the battered old man whose face was now bruised and stained with blood and when he tried to speak, his voice was hindered by coughs.

"Wh-what did you... do to me?" Uttering no answer, Ren just continued to walk towards the man and as he did, he began to loosen up what appeared to be a black metal tube from his belt.

"I'm only going to ask this one final time." Kylo said with his voice still just as sinister as before. "Where are the girls?" Again, the elder said nothing and so in just a few seconds, the man felt as he lost all control in his body much like how he did when he was pushed back with this time being much greater in feeling. It was almost as if his whole entire body was trying to fight against an invisible force that no matter how hard he tried to escape, the grip around him just kept tightening and tightening. Staring him down, Kylo Ren then pressed down a small button on the tube and immediately afterward, three vibrant red beams of energy shot forward and the moment they did, he did a small spin with the weapon before having the blade just far enough away from his throat to where he could feel the heat.

"My patience is dwindling, where are they?!" Ren demanded.

"I know nothing of these girls you speak of, just leave us alone!" The elder pleaded before then being flung upward until he was suspended in the air, with Ren's laser sword still pointed towards him.

"I see how it is." Kylo said, his voice a bit calmer. "You want to protect them, you're afraid of what will happen once I find the two of them aren't you?"

"What?!" The elder asked, baffled. "I've told you the truth, there never were anyone like them in this village, the only person who matched your description was Sayo who went off with two other people moments a-"

"Two others?" Ren questioned, remembering how he had sensed at least one extra presence before he flew off. "Tell me about them and I promise no harm will come to you." At that moment, the elder began to slowly open his mouth as if he was ready to speak... only for his face to then shift back into the serious expression moments before.

"Tatsumi and Ieyasu were their names but let this be known," He began. "their names are all you'll be getting out of me because may heaven have mercy on your soul since by now, I'm sure Tatsumi has gotten far stronger with how many beasts he has killed along with the training he received in the Imperial Army, your troops will be no match for him."

"Is that so?" Kylo began, his gaze still being locked on the elder. What felt like an eternity passed as silence filled the air, leaving no noises with the exception of the low hums emanating from the ships and their engines. After a little while longer, Kylo slowly looked around at the villagers until his gaze set on Phasma who he immediately gave a small gesture to which she followed by then proceeding to load her blaster with many troopers doing the same. Afterward, he turned back towards the old man where he then uttered a simple phrase.

"Thank you for your time." Then, in a moment that seemed to play in slow motion, the old man suddenly lurched forward towards Ren's lightsaber, causing the blade to run straight through his throat, killing him instantly much to the horror of all the villagers, who screamed out in fear. Taking a moment to look at the fearful faces, Kylo slowly turned his attention back towards the elder whose eyes had now shut tight, signifying that he entered the eternal sleep. A few seconds later, the Dark Lord then retracted his saber and let the limp corpse fall onto the snowy ground. After a few more seconds had passed, Ren took a moment to examine his surroundings and took in all the terrified and saddened expressions of all the people who watched him and after a few more seconds, he began to make his way back to his ship with his saber being shut off moments before he made it to the hangar. Then, he slowly turned around, set his hands behind his back and looked towards Phasma.

"Whenever you're ready Captain." Giving a quick nod, Phasma looked towards her men.

"All troops, steady your aim and prepare to fire on my command!" She demanded. Almost as quickly as the soldiers loaded up, the villagers began tensing up as they knew exactly what was coming up next. To most soldiers, this would be the hardest thing to witness but to Kylo Ren and his troops, they were watching this moment with clear delight on the faces behind those masks as they were ready to rid the galaxy of what they perceived to be the pathetic scum that lived in it.

"Ready..." The low whir of the blasters sounded off as several troopers straightened up their posture and looked down their sights.

"Aim..." Several little children buried their tear-drenched faces into their parents thighs in order to shield themselves from viewing their inevitable fate. After a few more seconds of silence had passed, Phasma straightened up her own posture and pointed her weapon towards the villagers.

"Fire!" At that moment, all hell broke loose. Several red blaster bolts came launching from the guns at breakneck speeds with every shot hitting its mark all while kicking up a large amount of smoke. Ren looked on at this with absolute delight and a hint of doubt since he knew some would try to hide. A few seconds later however, that doubt was put to rest once the smoke cleared and he saw the smoking, bloodied corpses of every villager lying down on the ground in one massive pile. Feeling his rage had been satisfied, Kylo turned towards one of his fellow soldiers and gave his orders.

"Go and tell Hux to keep his forces in range in case we need them." Kylo began as he proceeded to walk into his ship with Phasma by his side.

"Yes sir but there's just one question I have," Kylo halted himself and slowly turned towards the trooper. "what are you going to be doing from now on?"

"Looking for this Tatsumi and the Imperial Capital, if what that old fool said was helpful, it will hopefully lead me to the two girls I'm looking for." Feeling satisfied with his answer, the trooper headed back to his transport without any further question, stopping only to give a small hand-signal and soon after, two Flametroopers came pouring out of the ship and immediately began setting the area aflame, making this the last beautiful sight that Kylo saw before his ship took off. As soon as the deep forests became miniature from the view they were at, Phasma turned towards her commanding officer.

"Sir, before we fired upon the villagers, I spotted a wom-"

"I saw her too." Ren began, his attention not at all leaving the cockpit. "I left her alone because I wanted her to get the message."

"Sounds like a big risk to me, what was your message?"

"That the First Order will do anything to get what they want." Back near the village, as it was described, a blonde woman was just barely peaking her head out from behind one of the far off trees, her face showing a great deal of fear and anger as the last transport made its way upward into the sky.

"Just who the hell are they?" She thought to herself. "They don't look like the Empire but... they certainly aren't friendly. This is bad, I better warn Najenda and the others because if they're heading where I think they're heading, we're not surviving this one." Stopping only to take one final glance at the destroyed village, the woman then began to make haste back in the opposite direction with the hope that she could at the very least warn her friends about this new threat before it's too late.


	2. Chapter 2

( _Night Raid Base_ )

Despite the success of the previous mission, things were definitely not as pleasant as they were for the assassin group known as Night Raid who were currently huddled around a table in their meeting room, desperately trying to figure out what their next plan of action would be after two unfortunate tragedies hit them which resulted in the loss of two of their best members and no one was taking this as hard as the brown-haired boy who had his head slightly propped up by his hand as his gaze was locked on the very noticeable empty areas with one in particular being most notable as it was the spot of the one he called "bro", the lovably flamboyant Bulat.

Every time he stared at that spot, it used to serve as a wonderful reminder of the friendship and camaraderie he shared with some of his greatest friends but now, it only reminded him of what he felt to be his greatest failure and he would continue to think this no matter how many times people tried to comfort him. In his eyes, he was the one who should've manned up and tried to deflect those blows from Liver but he couldn't and as a result, he just had to stand and watch as his friend suffered through a slow painful death with there being nothing he could do to stop it.

Thinking back to it, all that came to that boy's mind was just how much the grief and pain overwhelmed him, to the point where on that day, he cried far more than any person at his age should. He cried for so long that it got to the point where his tear-ducts felt shriveled and crusty. Even though Bulat went out peacefully and even though he got his revenge on at least one of the Three Beasts, there was just nothing that he could do to patch that empty feeling in his heart and from the looks of it, everyone else has been feeling the exact same way since despite the intention of the whole gathering, every member has been dead silent with the exception of the occasional suggestion and low murmurs but even then, there were just some members who just didn't even talk, thus making this out to be one of the slowest, most depressing meetings of all time.

After a few more minutes of staring out of what felt like hours on end, the boy finally shifted his gaze away from the seat and towards his gloves where he saw the faint, dark red stain of dried blood still present on the fingertips and knuckles from when he knocked that one blonde kid straight into the wall of the ship him and Bulat were on. It was this little piece, this tiny portion of shriveled up bodily fluid had now begun a new life as the only form of relief he could get since through a small glance, he knew that he had made sure his friend didn't die in vain.

"Tatsumi? Tatsumi!" Stunned, the boy quickly jerked his head upward to see the source of the voice, the pink-haired sniper Mine, staring at him with crossed arms. "This is no time to be dozing off, especially when we have major issues to discuss." Realizing that he had been out for well-over three minutes now, the assassin immediately began to tighten his fist and mentally curse himself for getting this basic feature.

"Sorry Mine," He began. "I just have a lot on my mind at the moment."

"What is there to be thinking about?" The pinkette asked. "We did tell you after all that either one of us could die at any time." Every time this was mentioned, Tatsumi always had to hold back the urge to scream and yell at his teammates since in his eyes, he didn't see death as just something he could move on from, especially after he had to see his best friends in the horrible state they were in. What was the major kicker this time? The fact that Mine was saying it, the sniper who already had gone through a great deal of grief after she witnessed her own best friend being murdered and yet here she was, already scolding him for even daring to show emotion. Granted, this was something that Akame made him aware of during that one moment she broke down, that all assassins functioning under Night Raid should not and could not continue to dwell on the past in any way since apparently, it was a massive weakness for them on the battlefield but regardless, the boy still couldn't find much merit in the whole thing. But considering the amount of people that were counting on them to finish off the Empire, he did realize that there would have to come a point where he moved on and continued with the fight. It still didn't hurt any less though.

"I know." Tatsumi replied, there being zero attempt to hide the sadness in his voice.

"Honestly, you should be more focused on the mission at hand, we can't just sit around and mope for the rest of our lives." At that moment, Tatsumi just let out another sigh and remained silent but not out of sadness but rather, it was because he could feel the rage beginning to boil in his heart. No matter how many times they said this, no matter how many times the point was explained to him... he just hated that statement. ZERO time was left for him to grieve for Sheele, the same went for Bulat and yet they had the gall to say that he should essentially just forget about them. At that moment, the boy was tempted to reach out across the table, grip the sniper by the shoulders and proceed to shake and scream at her face about how heartless she was but due to his better judgment, he kept quiet and instead just gave his partner an attentive nod before turning towards the rest of the conversation.

"So, does anyone have a single idea on what to do?" Tatsumi asked, breaking the silence and trying to take his mind off of it.

"Negative," The green-haired Lubbock began. "so far we've had a few passing thoughts but nothing really solid. With the Jaegers hunting for us combined with both the new Danger Beasts roaming around and our lack of teammates, there is just so much to consider and yet so little time."

"Well, what have you been considering?" The boy questioned, his head perking up slightly. In response, the eyepatch wearing Najenda just took a puff of her cigarette before proceeding to speak.

"Originally our first thought was to possibly try and ransack the Capital while the Jaegers were occupied with a mission... but knowing Esdeath, she probably would be a few steps ahead. Then we thought that maybe we should just stay back and regroup with the Revolutionary Army but their forces are already stretched so thin." Hearing this, Tatsumi couldn't help but feel his heart sink a bit at the thought that for a group as direct, controlled and on top as Night Raid, they had absolutely no idea what to do. A few seconds later, as if she had read his mind, Najenda immediately continued on all while taking another puff of her cigarette.

"I'm sorry Tatsumi, we just have nothing to go off of right now." In response, the boy's face changed into that of a small scowl.

"So is that it?" He began, his tone presenting a slight hint of rage.

"Relax Tatsumi," Mine began as she set one calming hand on his shoulder. "we're doing the best we can, fighting a war takes hard work you know."

"Tatsumi," Immediately the two turned towards the redhead Chelsea, who was sitting at the edge of the table with toothpick in hand slightly prodding at her gums. "the only reason you're being this way is due to the deaths of your teammates and I understand that but right now, we need you as calm and cool as can be."

"Or in other words, just shut up about it and pretend my friends were complete failures?" Tatsumi responded with a cold voice, causing dead silence to fill the room with the exception of Najenda.

"Tatsumi..."

"No." He began right as he jerked his hand up. "I'm sorry commander but I have not forgotten about them, I'm still reeling and hurting."

"We feel the same way," Mine responded, her hand still lightly rubbing Tatsumi's lower back. "it's why we're continuing the fight, we'll find time to mourn lat-"

"WRONG!" Tatsumi shouted. "You're only saying that because it makes you look human! You won't bother to grieve about any of your friends! Why is that?! Is it that the killing has just finally destroyed your human side?!" Standing up, Chelsea gave the boy a harsh glare.

"We're only concerned for you, we don't want to lose anym-"

"BULLSHIT!" He growled. "You don't care about that! You said it yourself, 'any of us could die at anytime.', meaning that I shouldn't get attached well I'm sorry that I'm an actual HUMAN with real emotions and is not afraid to put them out on display! Unlike you Chelsea, who just looks back on them like they're trash!"

"Take a seat, Tatsumi." Najenda said with a stern tone, her hand pointing towards the empty seat. Ignoring her, the boy just slammed his arm down on the table.

"Or how about you Mine, you show emotion one moment and then you want to just focus on the mission?! Tell me, do you think Sheele would've wanted that?!" At that point, Tatsumi froze once he saw Mine's face shift into that of pure shock which finally allowed him to snap out of it and take in what he just said.

"Take a seat Tatsumi." Najenda commanded to which the boy just gave a solemn nod and sat down with Mine staring at him with eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and anger. From the other corner of the room, one of the members, the beautiful crimson-eyed Akame, was watching the Tatsumi with eyes full of concern. It was clear that despite his training, he still hadn't gained complete control over his emotions and was clearly harboring some form of resentment towards the team. Most likely it was ever since Bulat gave him that punch back when Sheele died. In that moment, never before had Akame seen someone so rage-filled and so depressed all at the same time. Hell, even when he was comforting her, she could tell that something was off about his heart, it was clear of course that he loved his teammates and was just feeling a natural emotion the first time but with Bulat's death, now the feeling was back and was much more prominent. One moment, she remembered being woken from her slumber by the sound of flesh being ripped apart and when she went out to look, she saw Tatsumi with pure rage in his eyes, aggressively hacking away at a Danger Beast and not only that but she felt his aura and it definitely wasn't that of a heroic soul but rather, one of a possible murderer.

With that in mind, the assassin let out a sigh as she continued to watch the boy, being able to relate to his troubles since she herself wasn't exactly the most pleasant as of late. For some reason, she has been feeling on edge for the past few hours now, feeling a similar type of chill to the one she had when the executioner Zanku gave her that vision of Kurome and yet this feeling was far more... unsettling, dark and mysterious, it was as if a long missing piece of her past suddenly decided to reveal itself and considering the last clear memory she had before she was sold to the army was of a calm but gruff male voice speaking to her, she knew that there were definitely still some parts to uncover.

"Don't worry, you'll be alright. Just remember to always strike first before the enemy ever has a chance to." This was the one line she could remember and if her guess was correct, it was of her father but since then, the memory has been very fuzzy. Hell, the Capital didn't even bother to give her a full name and always used just her first and when combined with her complete lack of knowledge regarding her parents, this was always something she wanted to look into and judging by this dark feeling in the pit of her stomach, she realized that she might not have wanted to. Finally, after a few more seconds of silence had passed, it was broken by the sound of a door flying open, revealing an out of breath but nevertheless very frightened Leone.

"Something went wrong at one of the villages!" She began. "They were all slaughtered!" His face still lowered, Najenda took that moment to answer the call.

"We need more detail than that." She began right as she lit another cigarette. "Which village did the Empire hit?"

"It wasn't the Empire ma'am..." Leone responded with a low voice. "and as for the village they hit, they... they..." Despite the horrible feeling that was slowly raising, the boy immediately stood up and looked towards the scout, hoping that his fears weren't going to be confirmed.

"Where did they hit? W-what happened?" Tatsumi asked, his voice slightly shaking. Taking a moment to take in a deep breath, Tatsumi watched as a single rage-filled tear dropped from her face right as she finished up.

"they hit... your village Tatsumi."

* * *

( _First Order Cruiser_ )

Gazing out onto this new planet through the cockpit, the Dark Lord Kylo Ren was overall finding it very fascinating how despite the distance they were from this galaxy, the similarities between it and the various planets he traveled to was quite alarming. From the looks of it both in person and in map form, it practically had everything that previous planets had from the arid deserts of Jakku and Tatooine to the forests of Endor, it was all very strange to see... as well as a painful reminder when he saw the snow which served only to add more fuel to the flaming anger in his heart.

Even though it had been months upon months since then, Ren still could not fathom how one defected trooper just set the events in motion that crippled his army to an insane degree and how he possibly aided in the revival of the Jedi Order, an order that his grandfather had worked SO hard to keep a distant memory and yet here they were now, making a comeback possibly as if not MORE grand than the First Order and he just knew that once that desert girl got Luke back into the fray, everything would just come crashing down in a burning heap which would bring Snoke back to square one.

Taking a moment, the Dark Lord looked down at his fist and began to recall what that old man had said to him a little while earlier.

"I'm sure Tatsumi has gotten far stronger with how many beasts he has killed along with the training he received in the Imperial Army, your troops will be no match for him." At that point, Ren couldn't help but honestly smirk at that thought. The boy was possibly going to prove to be a match for him sure but it was just that confidence that baffled him. Just the sheer amount of ignorance that was being shown to a group like his that has taken several planets in its time as the Galactic Empire and yet, he believed just one boy was going to bring that down? Granted, FN-2187 did something similar by crippling the group but even he knew that it was going to take MORE than just a weapon going down for the First Order to truthfully go away and yet this old fool believed that this "Tatsumi" was going to actually beat them in one fell swoop?

"Oh I'm sure he will." Ren mentally responded. "Though if this boy is possibly connected to the dark energy I'm sensing, he'll probably be of more use to us than this empire." A few seconds later, he was shaken from his thoughts from the sound of the pilot's voice.

"Sir, there's a palace nearby, should we stay the course or touch down here?" The moment that order was given out, Kylo then began to feel something massive in the Force, something that was very... large in power, as if the people inside the building were actually practicing something similar to him. Realizing he could possibly do something with this, Ren turned towards the trooper and lightly set his hand on the seat.

"Land, I feel this palace may be of some worth to us."

"Yes sir." The pilot responded with a salute which gave Kylo his cue to begin walking towards the deployment hatch with Phasma following him just a few seconds after he gave her a small hand-signal.

"Why are we stopping?" The captain questioned.

"I sensed something, it's somewhat faint but from what I can tell, some of the occupants inside may have some form of Force-sensitivity."

"I doubt it," Phasma began. "you said it yourself a little while before we attacked the village that the only presence you felt were the two girls."

"True but that was before we came across this place. All of them are weak but with proper training, they may prove to be worthwhile."

"In what way exactly?" Right as the ship began to lower, Ren turned towards the captain and despite the two of them wearing masks, Phasma somehow was able to tell that Ren most likely had a stern, serious look under that mask when he said this.

"I was just thinking that the First Order needed some more muscle. Once they're trained and brought aboard the Finalizer, you are to load them on transports which will be shipped back to the Supreme Leader got it?" Phasma nodded in agreement. At that moment, the doors dropped down, revealing two soldiers with spears outstretched, running towards the ship which gave Kylo a small little flashback to how he and his troops ransacked that loathsome Hutt's palace and had to contend with a few remaining Gamorreans who just so happened to be defending the place at the time.

"Halt!" The soldiers demanded right as the Dark Lord walked out, stopping only to signal to Phasma to not raise her weapon. "That's as far as you'll go without Bolic's permission."

"Is that so?" Kylo began as he crossed his arms. "I take it Bolic is your commanding officer?" The soldiers nodded.

"Exactly, and he isn't seeing anyone today so please for your sake, I'd recommend leaving." One soldier said with a stern voice. At that moment, Kylo Ren looked directly into the man's eyes and lowered his hands just enough to where his fingers were just lightly grazing his weapon.

"I believe you should watch your tone, you do not know what harm the Dark Side will bring to you so I recommend you to just let us pass." In response, the guards just paused for a moment before proceeding to continue on with a voice that had a slight mocking demeanor to it.

"We understand but sorry, there is no 'Dark Side'." As the guard was speaking, Kylo was lightly gripping his saber hilt, anxious for his next move. "Look pal, I'd recommend if you'd just le-" Suddenly, Ren pulled the saber from his hip, ignited it and slashed upward, the red blade cutting through the man's stomach, chest and neck all in one simple, brutal motion. His senses kicking in, the partner immediately rushed towards Ren only to then be launched backward as a shot came crashing into his head. Looking around to see if there was anymore, Ren calmly turned the weapon off and began to walk forward with Phasma and her troops following suit soon after she blew out her smoking blaster.

"That went well." Ren said as he walked through the doors.

"No offense sir but that was a little reckless." Phasma responded as she began to look around the room which was covered in various reds and oranges.

"Only if they were Jedi would I not have been so direct in my approach, however, they were nothing but foolish humans." Soon after a few more minutes had passed, the two had made it into what appeared to be a throne room of some kind that was anything but populated with it being so quiet that one possibly would've heard crickets. In the seat far in front of Ren sat what appeared to be a fairly young man with a brown beard, looking smug as ever with his grin, presumably due to the position of power he carried... however, that wasn't what initially caught his attention. No, what instead did were the sheer amount of scantily clad women that were present on his lap and around the seat with their gazes being that of pure stupid lust, a sight that disgusted Phasma and interested the Dark Lord.

"Reminds me of the old prostitution ring the Hutts used to run. No matter, as long as they prove themselves to be of use, I'll be just fine." He thought to himself as he stared at the display in front.

"Well, well..." The man began. "I see a stranger, albeit uninvited, has taken interest in what I do. Speaking of which, how did you get in here? I was sure the guards would've taken care of you."

"Your guards were not exactly the most... prepared to deal with someone like me." Ren responded, giving the man the hint about how easily they fell which actually seemed to interest him with the way he just scratched his chin afterward.

"I see, so what brings you here stranger? Do you have a name?" In response, the Dark Lord nodded.

"My apologies for forgetting the formalities... Bolic I believe, I am Kylo Ren, one of the heads of the First Order, an organization that has been operating far beyond the reaches of your planet's galaxy."

"Oh I see, you're... spacemen? Now isn't that an odd thought?" The man said with a light, mocking chuckle, clearly not intimidated by Ren's low sinister tone. Ignoring it, the Dark Lord just continued.

"We've been currently locked in a vicious civil war with a group of rebels and recently, I believe to have sensed the presence of two girls who I believe to be strong in the Force and related to my bloodline."

"And you want my help to track them?" Bolic asked to which Ren nodded.

"Actually, it's a bit more complex than that, we just need access to all of your strongest warriors and if you can provide that, I can assure you that no harm will come your way."

"I see," Bolic began with a chuckle as he proceeded to lean in slightly. "and what if I refuse?" In response, Kylo's voice lowered until it was that of a sinister growl.

"I don't think you'd want to find out."

"What's that? Did someone just threaten me?"

"Think of it as more of a friendly warning." In response, the man just started cracking up with Ren and Phasma just patiently watching as he laughed for a whole minute before soon regaining his composure enough to give a small hand-signal which caused four figures to start emerging from the shadows.

"Now this is rich. Not only do I get news from spacemen that they have taken out my guards but now, you fools want to threaten me?"

"You don't know the power of our forces so I'd recommend for you to hold your tongue." Phasma called out with the sound of the feminine voice clearly appealing to Bolic.

"I see you have brought me a nice shining present spaceman, maybe when I finish wiping your corpse off the floor I can... unwrap it later." The tension rose once the group of four then started lowering their cloaks, revealing the faces of a large bearded male, a tan blonde female, a black haired female and a tall man with white hair. Saying nothing, Ren looked around at his surroundings and examined his opponents for a good few minutes. Afterwords, he then began to calmly turn towards Phasma who gave him a nod that signaled to him that she was ready. After a little while, Ren then turned towards Bolic who gave his final word.

"So what are you going to do now spaceman?" The Dark Lord just stared up at him, his expression behind the mask still keeping that same stern serious look until a few seconds later where he just gave a small smirk.

"This." Ren said with just a hint of cockiness. Suddenly, a few seconds later, the man thrust his arm forward and in just a few seconds, the group of four was thrown back into a nearby wall, the force of which caused the backing to crack under pressure. Angered and shocked by this, Bolic was just about to try and sit up and run when he suddenly felt as his windpipe shut tightly and his body slowly levitating into the air with the only person he had to gaze at being the disturbingly calm Dark Lord. Almost immediately, the group of four who were thrown back let out a collective gasp at the sight.

"Impossible," The big bearded man thought. "even if it was an Imperial Arms, there have been no known records of one that had quite the abilities like this. Just who is this one?" What felt several straight hours had passed with Bolic still being held up in the air, trying desperately to keep what little oxygen he had left but to no avail. He couldn't tell exactly what it was but somehow, despite him not laying a single finger on his throat, the Dark Lord's grip was almost as tight as what he imagined being crushed under Esdeath's foot to be and maybe even more.

"Look at you," He began. "such bravado was being spouted a moment ago and yet like everyone else who has had to face this hold, it has degenerated into hacking fits, showcasing just how unmatched you truthfully are." Immediately, Bolic's reflexes told him to let out a remark of his own but instead, he ended up spitting out a bit of blood in the short split-second he opened his mouth which caused him to then keep it shut. After a little while longer, Ren looked towards Phasma who despite the helmet, he could tell she was eyeing the man with such an intense fury that not even his own anger could compare to. Taking note of this reaction, Ren slowly turned his gaze back to the man suspended in the air and in just a few seconds, he let out one final chilling word.

"Begone." At that moment, Bolic's eyes immediately widened right as the grip tightened and in just a few seconds, his neck went out with one sickening "CRACK!", inciting a loud gasp from every follower he had. A few seconds later, Ren simply loosened his grip and let the body drop and the moment it did, two Stormtroopers came rushing out and grabbed the corpse each by one arm before proceeding to drag it off, a sight that snapped the group out of their shock and sent them into a mad fury.

"That's enough!" The bearded man called out right before he began to charge towards the Dark Lord who just continued to stand there, his posture still showing him as being calm and collected. In a move that matched the pose, Ren simply pointed towards the man and before the bearded one could realize it, a trooper with what appeared to be a cracked chest and what looked to be some cybernetic work underneath came rushing out with a stun baton in hand and in a few seconds, what started as a growl of fury soon became a groan of pain when he felt that weapon go straight in-between his legs, a motion so brutal that it sent him to his knees. Afterward, the rest of the group was ready to fight back when the girl stopped them, the look on her face clearly telling them that this was a fight they couldn't win. Soon after, the trooper turned towards Ren.

"Requesting permission to set an example sir." He said, his voice dripping with loyalty and hatred.

"You may proceed." responded Kylo who saw the great potential in this one act alone. At that point, the man had regained his strength and was ready to fight but when he went to stand, it felt as though his entire body was being pushed back by some unexplained force, almost in a fashion that reminded him of his training. Of course, he didn't have time to ponder over this when the first stun baton hit came crashing into his face, sending blood and teeth across the floor in a matter of seconds. Then this brutal strike was followed up by a quick knee to the stomach and despite his hard muscles, that was where the trooper used his armor to his advantage and with the hardened material of whatever that was on the knee-pad, he could feel his insides being shaken a small amount. Then, the trooper gave him a brutal strike to the arm and the force was so heavy and hard there that he heard the bone cave with a loud "CRACK!".

And it was at that point that the man finally screamed. Despite this single trooper being tiny and average in build compared to him, the way his maneuvers were conducted very much implied that he has most likely handled guys like him in the past but considering how brutal the beating was, there was no way that he was going to be focusing on that as the pain was still so severe. With the Force still flowing through him, Kylo then took his chance and began to walk towards the bearded face and at that moment, the man's head was jerked upward so that his gaze could be locked with Kylo's. The Dark Lord just stared at him, complete silence with not even a small sound to be heard aside from the bashing of the baton into his skin along with the low hum of what he assumed to be energy. Finally, after what felt like an hour but was in reality just a minute, Ren spoke with a cool tone that sent shivers down his spine.

"Your men are now working under the First Order," He began. "and you already betrayed us with your little stunt. However, I will give you one more chance for redemption. If you bow to us, you'll be given top treatment by my troopers and I will continue your training further. If you refuse us..." As he was continuing on, Ren had been slowly drawing his saber from his hip and had it in his hand soon before he finished up but once he did, he immediately ignited the red blade right when it was just inches away from the bearded man's head, the sheer heat of the energy causing him to sweat.

"The only punishment is death. I hope you'll choose wisely." At that moment, the bearded man looked up at Ren who just kept his gaze locked on him as a female voice sounded off.

"FN-2199, return to your post, you did well enough." After giving a quick salute, the trooper went to walking back as he was told, leaving Ren out there with saber still firmly in his grasp. The bearded man then slowly began to shift his gaze between Ren and his own group, his face showing clear conflict in the way his brow wrinkled and tensed up. Of course, he was wanting to support Bolic and knew that if he wasn't being held down, he could've and WOULD'VE tried to rip the man apart by now. But with how both his commander was just murdered with the blink of an eye and how he was brought to his knees by such a well-planned strike, he just didn't know how to respond and just continued to juggle his options. After a little bit more thought though, he remembered what he was taught in training which allowed him to give his final answer.

"I would rather die by my own hand than to be controlled by y-" Before he could even finish his sentence, Ren had already jerked the saber to the side, the blade going through the neck muscle, tissue and bone like it was butter. At that moment, Ren continued to hold him down, presumably so that the man's face of pure anguish, the still frame of his final moments of life could really sink in for everyone which it did since he saw that even the whores who were up with Bolic moments earlier had began backing away out of fear with their faces looking twisted with agony as if they had felt the man's pain themselves. After a little while longer, Ren began to make his way to the throne, letting his grasp on the body loosen completely where it then flopped forward with the severed head just simply rolling off onto the ground, a sight that caused some to faint, some to immediately hold their hands up to their mouths in a desperate attempt to hold back the urge to hurl and finally, some just stood there staring and quaking with fear at the sight of just how merciless the Dark Lord was. After a few moments had passed, the lord sat down in his mighty new throne and looked out among his followers who had immediately straightened up their postures as did the women with the only ones who didn't being the other three teammates of the one he executed. Not wanting them to think of even daring to fight, the Dark Lord knew exactly at that moment what he would say and turned back towards his followers right as he stood up.

"Let that be an example," He began coolly. "an example of what exactly happens to insubordination, an example of what happens when just one of you steps the slightest bit out of line! Let this be an example of exactly why you will not dare to challenge me if you value your life! Your commander may have built the foundation upon which you stand but that does not make him strong. The only reason I feel he did that was so he could bask in the glory for as long as his lies rang true for everyone present in this room since without them, he was a shallow, pitiful fool who was completely inept in everything he did! Instead of molding soldiers, he molded playthings, he traded strength for sexual conduct, instead of choosing to use that seed to form the blueprints for successors, he WASTED it on cheap thrills exactly like the weak-minded fool he was! It is for this reason why I came here since with the assistance of the First Order for as long as they stand upon this Earth, we will remove ALL who oppose peace to the galaxy and will send a reminder, a reminder that this will be the very last day disorder is allowed on any planet, on ANY star system! Through our assistance and guidance, the galaxy will kneel before us like the rightful masters we are! There is no such thing as failure, only DEATH! So if you support the cause, yell this from the highest mountain, scream it out in the middle of a street, let everyone in this cesspool know that we are the First Order! And that we will not rest until all disorder is wiped from the entire galaxy! Those who support the cause now raise your hands to our dictation or fall to my blade!" Soon after giving that speech, the Dark Lord immediately began to let out a few quick breaths since unlike Hux, he never quite had the voice for giving a rousing speech like he did. Though much to his surprise, it definitely worked as everyone, including the trio who initially refused his rule raised their fist in the exact same manner as Phasma and his troopers did which signified that he finally had done what he had came here for. Seeing as how everyone was now waiting for what he would say next, Kylo simply took a few moments to bask in the glory before proceeding to sit down, ready to give his next commands.

* * *

( _Village Remains_ )

"No..." Was all Tatsumi could let out once his gaze set upon the burning heap that was his village. Taking a moment to look back towards his comrades, he watched as the sorrowful Leone just gave him a quick hand-signal for him to go on which after a moment of hesitating and shaking, he did so. Every step he took through the burnt wreckage he felt was slowly killing any happiness or hope he had inside of him. His family home, blackened piles of broken wood and stone. His friends, fresh corpses with some still continuing to bleed long after the whole sequence had ended and finally, he came across the major kicker.

The elder, the one who gave him that charm and saw him off on his journey, was now nothing but a lifeless corpse, his face still showcasing his last moments before death in a frightening freeze-frame along with the burning hole in his throat which had a mixture of both fresh and dried blood still present. Feeling his emotions take over, the boy slowly dropped to his knees and began to lean in to touch the elder, only to shudder when he saw the body convulse right as a bit of fresh blood came launching from the wound onto his hand which caused his eyes to widen with fear and sadness.

"W-who d-d-did you say this was?" Tatsumi asked with a shaking voice as his arms continued to wrap around the corpse. After taking a deep, deep breath, Leone and Akame came walking up with the former being the one to speak.

"The visuals were a bit fuzzy but are you sure you want to kn-"

"JUST TELL ME PLEASE!" Tatsumi screamed, his face now full of tears and anguish, a sight that admittedly nearly brought the hardened warrior to tears herself. After taking another deep breath and giving it some thought, the scout finally gave him the piece of information.

"It was a group clad in white," She began with a low serious tone. "they called themselves the First Order."

"Who were they led by?" Tatsumi questioned. "Was it Esdeath? Honest? Anyone we know?" To all three, the blonde simply shook her head.

"They were not affiliated with the Empire in the slightest, they seemed to specifically operate under someone named Kylo Ren." Stopping her searching, the black-haired assassin suddenly froze in place with her mind quickly being flooded with several memories and faces she never recognized along with several voices that clearly belonged to a larger sentence beforehand.

"can't let him get to them..."

"-on't say that..."

"...be fine..."

"...no worries..."

Voices like this continued on for several more seconds before they suddenly stopped, leaving her mind completely blank. When she looked around, she saw she wasn't at the wreckage anymore but rather, a dark empty room with little-to-no detail or color with dead silence being evident throughout. After what felt like an hour or so, she was shocked by the sound of a familiar voice.

"Akame?" Recognizing that commanding tone as being that of Najenda, Akame immediately began to look for the source.

"Najenda?" She called out, only to get no response. Immediately, the assassin began to run down the dark room towards what she thought was the source of the voice for what felt like several hours, during which more voices started springing up with some of their phrases being complete but for the most part, it was the same.

"I will not allow you to send her away!"

"...for her own good."

"...Dark Side can't reach..."

"...exceptional skill..."

Feeling like she was falling more and more into insanity, Akame just kept running in the same direction in the hopes that this would end. Finally, her vision was greeted by what appeared to be her commanding officer, looking rather blurry in the distance.

"Najenda!" She called out with relief right as she began to pick up the pace. As the face's detail began to show more and more, the assassin found herself being rather uneasy about just how... fearful Najenda looked. In fact, it looked as though she had seen a childhood fear that she never had gotten over and the voice matched this since when she started calling out again, it was a clear warning.

"TURN BACK! TURN BACK!" Confused, Akame just continued to run towards her commander. What could she possibly want her to run away from that has struck fear even into someone like her? Seeing her comrade still continuing on, the commander's voice began to become more hoarse and frightened.

"TURN AWAY AKAME! IT'S NOT SAFE!" Still refusing, the assassin continued on despite the growing pit in her stomach.

"TURN AROUND!" At that moment, Akame quickly began to rub her eyes when she thought she saw a cloaked shadow.

"TURN NOW!" A few seconds later, the assassin watched as the shadow soon became that of a man unlike anything she had ever seen with his sleek but scarred helmet and hooded appearance that gave him a presence like no other.

"Najenda behind you!" She called out.

"HE WA-" Before she could get the words out, Akame watched as the figure roughly gripped her commander by the shoulder right as a burning red, unstable looking blade came suddenly springing through her chest which caused her to let out a single continuous frightening scream. A scream that immediately caught the attention of Tatsumi and Leone who watched as their comrade continued to yell out with fright before proceeding to quickly lose consciousness which began her descent towards the ground. Their instincts kicking in, the two rushed to grab the assassin and thankfully managed to catch her just before her body made contact with the snow.

"What the hell got into her?!" Tatsumi called out, his voice still strained from crying.

"I don't know!" Leone frantically responded. "She was fine a moment ago!" Trying to think of a solution, Tatsumi looked around at his surroundings which gave him a thought and one that was not very uncommon.

"This place must be getting to her, we have to move back as soon as we can!" Nodding in approval, the two of them each began to lift Akame from one side with Tatsumi being the only one slightly struggling. Once they got the girl suspended in the air, the two then proceeded to carry her body back towards the base for inspection. As they continued on, Tatsumi took a moment to take one last look at his family home, finally coming to the realization that his old life is gone. After letting out a single tear, the boy then turned towards the front of him right as the burning fury in his heart which gave birth to one final thought.

"Kylo Ren, you're a dead man..."


	3. Chapter 3

( _Jaeger HQ_ )

It was a nice wonderful morning outside. Birds were chirping their happy little songs, the grass was a bright healthy green with the colors of various flowers perfectly complimenting them, the blue skies were almost a marvel with how calm and serene they were with the slow moving clouds that were beautifully hovering over the landscape and finally, there were the small little creatures such as butterflies and bees that hovered around the various tulips and roses among other various different flower types, while happily collecting pollen with every landing they made. Peaceful sights like this were a rarity among the capital and often times, civilians paid no mind to it since they were still left utterly horrified at the sight of the rotting corpses that were hanging from the walls. With that in mind, beautiful sights like this were often cherished by many of those who couldn't help but crack a small smile, even during the darkest of times.

However, a certain ice queen wasn't exactly feeling the love and was instead staring out her window with a face full of sadness and want.

"Tatsumi..." Esdeath began with a low voice. "why did you have to leave us?" It had been quite awhile now since she had last been with the boy on that small island and even longer since he initially joined up with the Jaegers. For someone as impossibly beautiful and psychotic as Esdeath with her voluptuous figure, lust for power and disregard for human life, someone as innocent and caring as Tatsumi was the last person anyone expected her to want. To any sensible person in fact, one would naturally expect maybe a stronger, more ruthless sort of dictator to be the target of her affection and yet somehow, it was Tatsumi who stole her heart regardless of if he liked it or not.

Giving it a little thought, Esdeath could recall that day as vividly as if it was yesterday. She held a tournament in order to look for new members for her little group of killers to challenge Night Raid and she remembered seeing him come on stage right then and there with a face full of determination, a long coat and green eyes that demanded attention while also being extremely innocent. Of course, given his small size, he wasn't exactly the most respected by his opponent who was almost double the size he was but for some reason, that didn't phase him in the slightest. When he went into battle, Esdeath was just completely floored by how fearless and confident he was and how through his skill and tenacity, he was able to defeat the brute with such ease and speed unlike anyone she had ever seen before and from that day forward, she knew that he was the one with everyone around her asking the exact same questions.

Why did she like him? Would there ever be another one who would catch her eye? What would happen to Tatsumi if he turned out to be a traitor? All of this and more were constantly being thrown at her since day one and despite being usually so controlled and confident, she never actually had an answer for any of this and instead just continued her pining for the boy. However, like all good things in life, it came to a screeching halt when she lost him and needless to say, that did a number on her heart, to the point where not even good torture sessions were enough to make her feel better. Nothing from a broken jaw or boot licking was ever good enough to heal the sheer amount of inner pain she felt for her loss of the boy.

After a few more seconds of staring outside, the general slowly looked down into her right open palm where in it, she held the exact collar she used to drag the boy back to the capital.

"I've murdered millions of people and tortured countless more. I've killed dragons, seen several sights that one could only dream of unseeing and most importantly, I've ignored several males who have made advances on me." She thought to herself as her grip slowly tightened around the small item, her expression remaining the same level of blueness that it always had.

"And yet in spite of all that, it was you who I was drawn to. It was you who broke down my walls. It was you who got my heart racing. It was you who got me so unbelievably tongue-tied that I couldn't even get the words out at first when I reunited with you. Now here I am again, alone and without you. Every time I catch you, I could feel the various murders that I've done slip away into the ether with feelings of passion and want acting as the replacements. You may believe in this whole cause with the Revolutionary Army but if you could just stay with me for once, I can show you love far beyond anything you could've ever dreamed of." At that point, Esdeath could've probably stayed there thinking about the boy for several days on end but as fate would have it, there was always work to be done and there would always be someone to nag you about it which came in the form of the young black-haired boy who opened the door moments later.

"General, I hope I'm not disturbing you but there i-"

"What is it Wave?" Esdeath asked coolly. After taking a moment to clear his throat and take a deep breath in response to the sudden change of demeanor, the boy continued on.

"Prime Minister Honest wants us," He began. "he said that one of the Empire's contacts, Bolic has gone quiet."

"Probably is just busy toying with his whores." The general muttered to herself at slightly too loud a volume.

"What was that m-GRK!" Before he knew it, the ice queen had already closed the space between them and wrapped her deceptively strong hands around his throat and with her colossal strength, she hoisted the young man into the air and was staring right into him with a gaze that lacked all forms of humanity.

"Nothing you should be concerned with." The general responded in a rather cold tone. "Gather the others and meet me at the entrance. Do not make me wait, got it?" Desperately trying to keep what little air there was in his lungs and his neck from snapping, the young boy could do nothing but give a small nod to the general. Thankfully, it was taken as being good enough since she then loosened her grip around his neck a few seconds later and let him drop to the floor. Without a second thought and while he was still hacking up a storm on the ground, the ice queen began to make her way down the hall with a slow but powerful walk that called for all attention to be put on her.

Rubbing his injured neck, the boy slowly got back up onto his feet, all the while staring at the commander as she made her way down that hallway but not with the look of respect like she commanded but rather, it was the look of pure shock and disbelief. When he first signed up for the capital, he, like all young guys, just saw it as a moneymaking opportunity, a chance to raise money for his village so that they may hopefully live a more prosperous, successful life and at first, it really did seem like this was the right decision.

By this point, he felt that he should've walked away the moment he saw Bols and his creepy mask and appearance since despite him turning out to be a kind, honest gentlemen, that should've been his first clue that things weren't right. Sure he had earned money and he has proven himself to be a competent fighter before like when he fought against that one armored Night Raid member... but that wasn't nearly enough to make up for the horrific atrocities that were committed by them.

He watched as innocent human beings, young, old, men and women, were being beaten and tortured for the most minor of crimes. Hell, even expressing a little concern about the methods taken seemed to at least get you a death glare which probably meant that you were on some watch-list right next to people who were TRUTHFULLY despicable if they don't just kill you right on the spot.

In fact, if there was one thing that Wave did learn from being a part of the organization, it was truthfully only one thing. Never speak out against a terrible organization... unless you have a death-wish. Though really, that wasn't the worst part about the Empire in his eyes. To him, the very worst part was just one thing, one simple element that has both disturbed and confused him.

It was the fact that almost all members, with a few exceptions, seemed to be very decent people who were unfortunately suckered in to believing this nonsense.

As he began to make his way down the halls, Wave could not stop thinking about just how normal these people truthfully were when compared to the horrific organization they were a part of. Bols was a family man who needed redemption and purpose and was unfortunately pulled into believing that all he ever would be was a killer. Seryu was a woman who genuinely believed that this was how a hero acted and that this was "true justice"... and then there was the final member, the one he never got, the one who carried so much baggage with her and was so sweet yet still so cold... and she was one that he rushed to the aid of when he heard what sounded like screaming coming from her room.

"Kurome!" With that one yell, the swordsman burst into a rapid frenzy down the hallway, his face showing clear concern all while his mind began to rotate through several different options. Once he made it to her room, the boy wasted no time and gave it a quick but rough bash with his shoulders and was immediately greeted by the sight of the swordswoman sitting straight up in bed, letting out a series of heavy breaths with an expression that made it look as though she had seen a ghost. At that moment, the swordsman just wanted to say something, anything that could make her feel better but with just that frightened look alone, he could tell that something had shaken her to the core which seemed even more apparent when he heard her low mumbles.

"I won't let you take me masked man... I won't." A few seconds later, Kurome halted herself and looked up at her comrade. Realizing that he witnessed that, the two just shared a moment of awkward silence together for a few seconds before she just stood up and pushed the boy out of the way before he could say anything.

"What just happened?" Wave asked himself, his head cocked to one side. "Usually Kurome is very cheery, almost disturbingly so and yet here, it's almost like she was tortured. How can a mere dream just do that?" A few seconds later, Wave then remembered how Honest brought up the whole thing about Bolic to him along with how fairly recently, there just seemed to be this looming sense of darkness, like a long dormant and unknown enemy was finally ready to enact some form of vengeance on them all and it did have him wondering if everyone else noticed it too.

"But now is not the time." He thought to himself right as he began to make his way down the hall. "I better hurry it up, I don't necessarily want Esdeath to have my head for this."

* * *

( _Imperial Throne Room_ )

When Wave made his way into that grand room, he was definitely hoping that everyone had been a little late so that his absence was way less noticeable. Unfortunately, luck was definitely not in his favor since the moment he opened the door, he was greeted by a death glare from Esdeath and awkward stares by the rest.

"What did I just tell you?" asked Esdeath in a low sinister voice. At that point, Wave thought that was it, that he should just pray by that point that his death would be quick and painless because it was clear that the general was not going to have it. Thankfully, the boy did have good luck grace his being when the old but powerful prime minister made his way into the room and sat down in his seat. Though something was off about him, his usual unnerving grin was now gone and replaced with that of a concerned look.

"Good to see you all here." He began with a tone that, while definitely a bit more concerned, still seemed more frighteningly jovial. "Now I've already informed Wave about the issue but considering you're the top of the chain, I think it's best I break the news to you personally." Stopping for a moment, the old man took a long and hard breath before he continued on though from what everyone can tell, the news was definitely hard for him to express.

"A little while earlier, we've lost contact with Bolic which is not uncommon considering his... hobbies but it has now been a few hours and considering he never leaves that spot of his, we're now comfortable enough to assume that someone or something has... silenced him." A loud collective gasp was let out by every member, all except for a certain general. At that point, Esdeath knew she should've been surprised yet somehow, she knew this would happen to him some day. Bolic was not at all what she would call an honorable man. In fact, the term "mindless disgusting pig" better suited the sack of flesh more than anything. Granted, she knew of how valuable he was to the Empire and that the info he has spared has lead to many victories in the past. But she always felt that over time, the man just became nothing but a mindless little pervert who only seemed to provide an update when he wasn't sleeping around with his whores which was almost every day. Despite these opinions however, Esdeath just kept them to herself and listened on as Honest took in another breath.

"Not only that but several villages have been disappearing from the face of the planet and as far as we know, these have nothing to do with Night Raid, the Empire or any other known faction."

"What are the numbers?" The orange-haired Seryu asked as she continued to pet her weapon/friend Koro.

"We haven't been able to get an exact estimate but so far, we have made the smart guess that it's in the tens and it might be approaching the hundreds soon with a few eyewitness accounts stating that they saw a masked man with legions of pure white soldiers and supposedly 'screeching demons'." While the previous story about Bolic certainly didn't appeal to her that much, the amount of villages being wiped clean had the exact opposite effect on the general who immediately brought one hand to her chin.

"Masked man? Well this is interesting, could he possibly be connected to the dark energies?" She thought to herself, all while her subordinates continued to speak.

"What's the rate of these attacks?" The masked Bols asked.

"Again, no exact numbers can be provided but so far from what info we have, the speeds range from about a minute or two to a matter of seconds."

"That's impossible!" Wave called out. "No force we know is that strong or skilled."

"And that's why we're so concerned," Honest began. "we have honestly no idea who this group is or what exactly it is they desire but from what we can tell, it's definitely something important."

"What do you think it could be?" The swordsman asked. "Are there any guesses?" Honest brought a hand to his chin and began to ponder.

"It could be the usual. Riches, Imperial Arms, mayhem and et cetera. The point is that all we know is that they're not exactly friendly to either side since from what we can gather, members of both the Revolutionary Army AND the Empire have been caught in the crossfire."

"D-Do we have any idea o-o-on what this masked man l-looks like?" Kurome questioned, her voice shaking.

"So far no." Honest said, causing Kurome to let out a sigh of relief. "However, we did get at least two names, one that we assume belongs to the masked man. They apparently go by Kylo Ren." Wave watched in silence as Kurome just froze, her eyes slowly widening with fear, like the name had reopened old wounds. "And the second we're guessing is the name of the group, the First Order." Before the swordswoman could have a breakdown, the orange-haired Seryu immediately stood up and slammed her metal hand down onto the desk.

"We will track down and bring this Kylo Ren to justice!" She called out with enthusiasm. "No one will harm innocents and get away with it!" With that last word, her dog Koro stood up and gave a salute along with an approving bark. Shocked at the action, Honest simply shook his head.

"That's actually not what I want you to do." began Honest, right as his face shifted into the usual sadistic smile. "I would actually prefer if you'd try and get him to join our side."

"Are you CRAZY?!" Wave called out, clearly shocked by the development. "He murdered our men, why should we trust them?!" His smile not fading one bit, the prime minister just continued.

"Now don't misunderstand me, I'm just as upset about the lost troopers as you are." He began, his voice taking on a slight hint of insanity. "But those fools are merely pathetic fodder in comparison to someone as strong as this Kylo is. In fact, if one were to think back to our history, there have been several members who have joined our fight who have initially opposed it. The one that especially comes to mind is General Liver. But as far as this one is concerned, they're not exactly targeting us specifically, meaning it's entirely possible that, like a pet who has gone astray, they are simply scared of this new world and need to be guided in the proper direction... and what better people to do that than the Empire?" Expecting to see smiling faces of agreement, the prime minister was rather disappointed to see that the expressions were instead that of shock and concern, especially when it came to Kurome. However, he simply just kept his smile and continued on since he knew that despite them disagreeing, he knew that it all wouldn't matter to them since they would still follow Esdeath's orders and from what he could tell, the general was definitely taking an interest and that all that was left was a little bit of deal sweetening.

"Think about this," He began. "if we had someone like this who can take out villages at such a fast rate, the Empire would be unstoppable. Absolutely NO ONE would be able to oppose us, preferring to cower in fear in their spare time and do their work when we're around. Call me crazy but I even believe that this person might just be the one we need to take down the Revolutionary Army once and for all!" Seeing Esdeath's eyes light up, Honest's smile seemed to grow even wider as he began to stand up from his seat, now all that was left was the kicker and she would be sold completely. "Who knows, if they listen to orders well, they might be able to find that one boy you're so interested in." A few seconds later, the general's face formed into that of a stern soldier right as she proceeded to salute him.

"We will leave at once." Esdeath said right before proceeding to turn towards the exit. "When you're all ready, meet up with me outside." His smile still present, the prime minister simply began to make his way out the door, leaving the Jaegers to ponder over the decision.

"There is absolutely no way I'm standing by this." Wave began, shocked and irritated. "We have no clue who this one is and if they actually are even supporters of the Empire, there's just too little to go off of."

"As much as I hate to admit it, I agree." said Bols. "This Kylo Ren character just sounds way too much like a loose cannon, while we could use more members to make up for the lack of Stylish, someone like this sounds like the exact kind of person we DON'T need."

"Who cares about that?" Seryu asked, her voice full of disagreement. "Maybe this Kylo person just needs to be led on the path of justice. Maybe th-"

"Maybe they already have made up their mind about us." Wave interjected. "Come on guys, use your heads. We're practically signing our death certificates if we go with this. Don't you want to live?"

"I want to go out protecting my comrades. Does that count as living?" Seryu responded, causing Wave to facepalm.

"What I mean is that we should really give this a good long thought." Wave said. "We shouldn't be trying to urge someone this dangerous to join our side, we should be trying to take them down, we should b-"

"All we should be doing is just getting to our posts." Kurome spouted out right as she stood up, her voice showing no emotion. Before anyone could say anything, the assassin had already left the room, leaving the four clearly dumbfounded.

"How long has she been like that?" asked Bols, to which Wave just sighed.

"Since she got up this morning, I heard her scream and ended up rushing to her room and when I found her, she was hyperventilating like someone had legitimately attacked her."

"I see." Bols began. "So that's where the scream came from, what do you think has gotten into her?"

"I don't know." Wave said with a shrug. "But she was mumbling to herself about a masked man and if you've noticed, this talk of Kylo Ren has got her freaking out."

"Wave, you don't think she knows this person do you?" Wave just shook his head.

"It's so far the best I've got." Realizing that the blonde, Run hadn't talked throughout the entire meeting, Wave took his chance to involve him in the conversation.

"I know you were a school teacher back then and probably have seen similar cases, do you have any idea on what has gotten into her?" Expecting to hear no reply, the swordsman was shocked to see that the man slowly lowered his hand from his chin.

"Actually, I do have one theory." He began. "The most likely case is that Kurome is suffering from a form of post traumatic stress that was possibly inflicted from an encounter with a similar masked man from way earlier in her life." Wave's eyes then widened.

"You mean to tell me that..."

"I don't mean to cut you off but yes, this does mean that most likely this Kylo Ren has actually introduced himself to her at one point or another and if we're all to go by this dark energy along with the fact that there are no known records about a man like him, it's safe to assume that there is the possibility that he might be trying to call to her through some form of energy."

"C-Can people do that?" Wave asked to which Run nodded.

"It's entirely possible. I'm no scientist but I did hear Stylish talking about how he believes that there is a way to strengthen yourself to the point where you're better than an Imperial Arms just by using the body's natural energy reserves and considering how we've sensed Esdeath's aura, it's safe to assume that this dark presence could actually be the aura of Kylo Ren." At that point, Wave had to use every ounce of his strength to keep from shaking with fear. He could already tell just by looking at Esdeath that she was extremely powerful but to have someone who he could just feel the aura of from several miles away as if the person was standing right there with them, it had him deathly terrified. Before he could freak out though, he was interrupted by the sound of a creaking door which caused him to look up and see that the Jaegers were already moving out.

"Come along Wave, I understand the concerns you have but trust me, I think you would prefer to die quickly in a fight rather than being tortured by Esdeath." With that all said and done, the blonde made his way out the door, leaving Wave alone with his thoughts and it was for the first time in ages that at that point, he just didn't know what to do with himself. Should he honestly go out and try to attempt the impossible or should he just stay behind and face the punishment? He continued to have a back and forth talk with himself for what felt like several hours with his opinion seeming to change every few seconds. Finally, with a loud sigh of defeat, the boy stood up, activated his armor and made his way out the door, ready to face the challenge up ahead.

* * *

( _Undisclosed Village_ )

"Another one down... oh great." The elder said with a sigh right as he read the message. It seemed as though ever since last night happened, everyone has been shaking with fear about how in the span of a few minutes, several villages have been wiped out without a trace with not a single idea about who the culprit was though deep in his heart, he had a very good idea about who he thought it was. With a small groan, he just ripped up the paper and sprinkled the small bits onto the ground.

"Why hasn't anyone done anything about the Empire yet?" He thought to himself. "Or better yet, why is everyone still treating the Empire like it's some huge new threat? They've been around for awhile now and so far, these claims have just gotten old." Taking a moment to let out a sigh, the elder began to look around at his entire village, the state of which filled him with quite a fury. Despite swearing their allegiance to the Revolutionary Army and their promises for a bigger, brighter future, the war still had not been won with what seemed like ZERO progress being made on either side. They were still incredibly poor, food was still hard to come by and disease was now starting to seep its way in with not a single sign of anything brighter heading their way.

"I've sworn my allegiance and so far they've given us nothing." He said with a grumble. "No matter, it's what we're used to after all. The gods seem to despise everything about us so we're just the local punching bag." His thoughts still present, the elder then began to make his way back to his home, stopping every few steps to rub his aching back that never did heal quite right after the harvest from months earlier.

"At the very least, we've been living in peace and the gods have kept the shrieks of evil out of our land. That's one thing I guess." Then, in a moment that seemed to be a direct rebuttal to that thought, he froze right when he heard what he assumed to be faint scream from the distance that seemed to be growing louder and louder with every passing moment.

"What the hell?" With that one phrase, it seemed to trigger something in everyone's heads since almost immediately, every civilian started making a run for it right as what sounded like quick squawks of energy sounded off which he managed to catch in his peripheral vision. Finally letting his curiosity get the better of him, the man slowly cocked his head towards his side... only to have his vision filled by a flash of green light that sent him careening straight into a small wooden building behind him. As his eyes began to grow heavy and as his life continued to fade, the last thing he saw was a group of white clad soldiers, armed with odd weapons and led by a man with silver hair, proceeding to open fire on the innocents and various buildings around them and some who even began ripping small babies away from their parents' arms and carrying them back to their transports with the kids screaming and crying the whole way through.

* * *

( _Undisclosed Village_ )

"Be sure to leave some for me boys! I have a thing for desperation!" called Suzuka with a sadistic grin right as she stabbed her long nails into someone's back. Without any hesitation, the platoon of troopers began unloading all of their firepower into anyone they saw, their squeaky clean white helmets soon being stained with blood and debris right as the bodies started dropping like flies.

Despite the odds being clearly stacked against them, one civilian decided that they had enough of this abuse and came leaping from the top of his home with staff in hand, right as he let out a mighty war-cry. Unfortunately, one trooper managed to predict this and immediately used their shield to deflect the boy's strike with ease and followed that up with a deadly backhand that sent his frail body back onto the cold hard ground. As the boy continued to writhe in pain, the trooper wasted no time and proceeded to walk towards him with stun baton in hand. Looking up at who was about to be his cause of death, the boy still kept his bravery and spat on the trooper's armor.

Not amused, the Stormtrooper simply lifted his leg up and brought it down onto the boy's leg, the sheer force of the armor immediately shattering the bone. Keeping him firmly in place underneath his foot, the trooper raised his baton up into the air and with a mighty grunt, he brought it down onto the boy's head which splattered against the wall like a water balloon.

* * *

( _Undisclosed Village_ )

"URRAAAGHHH!" Two soldiers roared as they began to rush towards their target, a familiar chrome soldier, with swords in hand. Her confidence unwavering, Phasma simply held her peace and waited for the two to raise their weapons into the air and once they did, she simply rolled out of the way of the incoming strike and with stun baton firmly in her grasp, she immediately swept it under their feet, knocking them down and causing the swords to fall from their hands. Without skipping the metaphorical beat, Phasma then immediately drew her weapon and opened fire into the pair's heads, killing them instantly. Seeing her work was done, Phasma was just about to leave when she heard another growl and sure enough when she turned, she saw another revolutionary soldier heading her way. Ready to fight, Phasma simply had her finger on the trigger and was ready to pull it when she watched as Mez suddenly came leaping from out of nowhere with her feet crashing straight into the soldier's face. The sheer force of which caused his neck to give with a loud "CRACK!". A few seconds later, Mez simply leaped off of the sack of flesh, letting gravity do its job in bringing it to the ground and despite how she could've handled herself, Phasma had to admit that she never had seen anything quite like it.

"Impressive." Phasma said as she holstered her weapon. "You have my thanks."

"Like it was totally not a big deal." Mez said right as she gave a thumbs up with Phasma not being so silent about her disapproval when she then roughly gripped her by the neck.

"When you speak with a member of the First Order, you will show some respect worm." The captain said coldly. "Unless you want to end up target practice for my firing squad, you will discontinue your usage of those words, do I make myself clear?" In response, the blonde did nothing but nod with her face showing a large amount of fear. After letting go and once she was a considerable distance away, she mumbled to herself this little comment.

"Bitch." Whether it be from her not hearing it or just her paying no mind, Phasma went to bring out her communicator and sure enough, Kylo Ren appeared in small blue hologram form, his figure still resting rather comfortably against the throne.

"Sir, this area is secure but there still has been no further intel about the location of the girls or this Tatsumi." Phasma reported. Immediately, Ren let out a frustrated sigh.

"They're definitely hiding from us but no matter, we'll find them eventually." He began before proceeding to change the subject. "How was the opposition, were you and Mez strong enough to handle it?" In response, Phasma just nodded.

"Yes sir, she's still not exactly the most respectful of our cause but she has proven to be useful."

"That's all I need to hear." said Ren. "Just as long as she doesn't try anything she's fine, just know that if she does, you have my full permission to put her out of her misery."

"Understood sir." Phasma said with a salute. "And just so you know, by now I think FN-2199 and the flight squadrons have completed their raids."

"Excellent," Ren began. "that's good enough for now. Report back to base at once."

"Yes sir." Phasma responded with a nod right as she shut off her holo-communicator.

"Mez," She began right as she turned back. "we're heading back now, come along." With that said, Phasma began to move back towards her transport while Mez reluctantly followed but not before letting out another simple comment.

"Sure thing Captain Stick-Up-Your-Ass."

* * *

( _Path to Peace Palace AKA First Order HQ_ )

"The mission has been a complete success so far." Kylo Ren began towards the small holoprojection of Hux. "This planet is becoming well aware of the First Order and are now learning to fear them."

"Excellent." Hux began, making no attempt to hide his enthusiasm only to change into a more serious tone. "But what about the girls?" Ren just let out another sigh.

"So far there is still no sign of them but we have been making progress, they can't hide from us forever."

"Indeed they can't," Hux said with a nod. "well at the very least this mission isn't turning out to be a complete waste."

"What do you mean general?" Ren questioned with head cocked to the side.

"At the very least we are expanding to new territories. Soon we may have a brand new branch of troops to call upon and possibly a permanent new source of income if we're lucky, overall this mission is going better than anticipated, even if it is against the orders of the Supreme Leader."

"Speaking of which, have you been able to make contact with my master?" Hux just shook his head.

"As much as I would love to, it seems as though we've gone too far since long-range communications have been bloody impossible with the voices often coming out as just mere crackles. Though one thing is for certain, he definitely doesn't approve of this mission."

"Oh really?" Kylo asked sarcastically to which Hux just kept his serious look.

"Remember Ren, you were the one who demanded that we follow you on this asinine hunch after all." Hux began with a stern voice. "Remember that it was you who demanded that we pull hundreds of fine young and strong men and women from their posts just so that they may join you on this ridiculous quest for your so-called 'sisters'."

"Their presence was felt in the Force." Ren responded. "Remember that Snoke sensed it as we-"

"Supreme Leader sensed a SINGLE presence and even then, it was very faint and he said that this could all be your mind acting up."

"If Supreme Leader sensed the presence th-"

"So what if he did?!" Hux growled. "He said it himself that a user of the Force can easily be fooled if they let their failure get the better of them."

"So you'd deny the Supreme Leader all because you don't believe in the Force?"

"Where are you getting this? I believe in LOGIC! Logic that you clearly are lacking in Ren. You're letting your personal issues override the words of Supreme Leader. We're out in an unknown bloody galaxy all because you had a small hunch that so far has proven to be completely false."

"I find your lack of faith in this mission very disturbing general, perhaps we may need to replace you."

"How dare you suggest that!" Hux said through grit teeth. "I will not have some... obsessive cloaked brat question my skills as a commander like that! You know the only reason Snoke chose me was because..."

"He wanted to show me that generals like you did nothing but slow me and my grandfather down?" Hux immediately went on to let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Such talent in the act of comedy." He began. "He chose me because he saw that you were a loose cannon and that from what you've showcase with your temper, you need someone to pull back the leash every once in a while to remind you who's in charge! Because without Snoke's or my guidance, the Empire would've never been able to pick itself off the ground like it has now!"

"Such a fascinating conversation, I think we're done here." Realizing what he was about to do, Hux just stared at him with eyes full of irritation.

"Don't you dare touch th-"

"Goodbye." said Ren right as he shut off the communicator and proceeded to set it to the side, letting out a sigh of relief at the peace and quiet that he finally earned. After a little bit, Kylo then began to lean forward in the throne and set his head on top of his clasped hands.

"This is proving to be more difficult than I thought." Ren said mentally. "I thought going from village to village would eventually lead them out but somehow, they still haven't shown up. Surely there has to be someone around here who has somewhat of an idea on who I'm looking for." At that moment, Kylo stopped himself right as he felt the presence once again, the feeling this time being far stronger than ever.

"Well, at least the killings have made it easier to lock onto the signature." Ren thought to himself before suddenly having his eyes light up with an idea as he remembered what Snoke taught him.

"Using the Force, one can beckon to another if they concentrate hard enough and possibly with enough practice, they can be lured to the Dark Side." Snoke's voice played back in his head, as calm and raspy as ever. Deciding that there was no better time than now, the Dark Lord sat back in his seat, took in a nice long breath and shut his eyes, his focus now being set on calling towards the girl.

"Young one, don't be afraid." He said to himself. "I know you sense it as well, just let it in, let the hate flow through you. Know that at last... we'll be reunited."

* * *

( _Night Raid HQ_ )

In her room, Akame was laying flat on her back, still in a deep sleep from when she passed out a day earlier. With Tatsumi and Leone on a small supply run, the assassin was left to herself and thankfully, she was resting far more peacefully when compared to the huge scare she gave her comrades earlier. Unfortunately as her luck would have it, peace would not last for long as she would've hoped since she soon started to toss and turn.

Although it was faint, the assassin could hear a low, sinister voice that was so strange and yet so familiar all at the same time. While she couldn't make it out, the voice incited a few images to flash through her mind. Including that of a scruffy looking man among other images that were vaguely familiar to her. Soon, she found herself beginning to aggressively shake in the bed as the voice seemed to become louder and louder before finally, it suddenly halted which allowed her to let out a sigh of relief. However, that relief was very short-lived since soon after, she heard a familiar sound of a blade igniting which caused her to slowly begin backing up. A few minutes later, she found herself bumping into something rough and leathery in nature. Feeling the low breaths down her back, Akame slowly turned to look over her shoulder when she felt two arms roughly grab her torso before proceeding to spin her around until she was facing what appeared to be a horribly scarred old man who let out with a voice that was a low growl.

"Just let it in!" And at that point, before anything more could happen. The assassin jolted awake and sat up, being left as nothing but a sweating, panting mess.


	4. Chapter 4

( _The Finalizer Bridge_ )

A long time ago, back when the Empire initially tried to make a comeback, Hux could remember how he signed and swore an oath with his commanding officers, an oath that he would have to follow until either his retirement or death at the hands of his commanding officer, one that despite being initially groaned at by all his companions, he was determined to follow it for all eternity. During that time, he had heard several stories of the one commander that several troopers had to serve under, one who many could instantly recognize just by his chilling breaths and dark armor that gave him a presence like no other.

The one who was known as a master of the Dark Side. The one they called Darth Vader.

Over the years, he had heard several stories, both positive and negative about the fabled Sith Lord. From what he could gather from putting the stories together along with Snoke's explanations, Lord Vader was extremely difficult to work with and very arrogant which was in many ways, strikingly similar to how Kylo Ren managed his job. However, if there was one thing he could easily remember through those stories, it was how unlike Ren who most often resorted to temper tantrums and let personal issues get in the way of his judgment. Vader held a large amount of respect for the majority of his troopers and was a tactical genius which was most likely due in no small part to his massive role in the Clone Wars. Unlike Ren, his control over emotion was far greater, allowing him to make excellent battle strategies and even compromises if he actually saw a point in them and while he did pursue personal matters on more than one occasion, he never came in unprepared even for meetings.

And at that point, the general wished he had a will as strong as Vader's since discussing with officials wasn't exactly something he wanted to do. In fact, the very thing he actually desired was to take the fleet out of this galaxy and rejoin the war with the Resistance but as his luck would have it, he knew that Ren would have his head for that and most likely, even his loyalty to Snoke would not be able to stop him. It was this particular subject that the meeting was centered around but there was one issue. Throughout all his years of working on the First Order, it had become quite clear that no matter who it was he talked to, whether it be old experienced commanders or fresh young recruits, the civilized age of the Empire had long since disappeared into the ether with many being less willing to accept discussions and ambiguity and were obsessed with clear-cut answers, regardless of how absurd they were with this table being no exception.

In front of the general there were four admirals on each side with four of them in particular being holograms, obviously due to some of them having business on other Star Destroyers, meaning they couldn't make a personal appearance. Though that wasn't what Hux was most focused on as these admirals were people he knew very, VERY well from past meetings and were ones he dreaded to hear from since the entire meeting would almost ALWAYS get derailed and would go from halfway civilized pleasantries to ridiculously unkind and immature hatred. From left to right there was the gruff, loyal but impatient Liux, the far too enthusiastic but nevertheless loyal Jagel, the passionate but slightly obsessive Jalose, the powerful but slightly old-fashioned and bitter Gozil, the young but demanding Pellaeon, the older but occasionally naive Bendu, the old, artistically talented McQuarrie and finally, the very fresh, young but still very polite Lohot. In the center of it all was the map to the very star system they were on, the mysterious what they now dubbed the "Whills quadrant" which was both partially inspired by how they were drawn to the location apparently by the will of the Force and by how the visuals bared a slight resemblance to what the fabled "Journal of the Whills" described. As they continued to stare at the map in front of them, Hux decided that now was the time to kick off this little chat.

"Gentlemen," Hux began with his head propped up against his hand, his voice showing clear formality with a slight hint of conflict. "my sincere apologies go out to those who had important matters to deal with but since this matter is of utmost importan-"

"Let's just get this over with." interjected the younger Liux. "This better be good Hux, Ren's already wasting our time enough as is, we don't need you wasting o-"

"Don't cut off the commander," said Gozil. "I'd rather hear what he has to say before we write this off."

"Or what?" Liux asked with a scoff. "Will you come down and fight me old man?"

"That's not what I me-"

"Because the idea of outdated relics such as you fighting off someone like me is a most humorous thought."

"Don't forget Liux that it was through the Empire and the Emperor's leadership that we achie-"

"Nothing." Liux interjected again. "Your Emperor merely lead to thousands of lost credits and a regime of pure ineptitude!"

"Ineptitude?! HAH! Back in the old days we were led by someone who actually knew how to manage a group, here we're about as dysfunctional as those savages down on that blue planet's surf-"

"GENTLEMEN!" Hux growled right as he slammed his fist on the table before proceeding to dial it down to a much calmer tone. "Let's keep this civil and on topic." After taking a few moments to glare at each other, the two nodded.

"Very well." said Gozil as he crossed his arms. "So what's the topic at hand?"

"Well..." Hux began after taking a deep breath. "first let's start with the good news." Stopping for a moment, the general looked down towards the bright red button in front of him and pressed down and the moment he did, the galaxy hologram began to shake and whir with energy as it zoomed in towards one of the planets with small bits of red appearing all over, highlighting various points that Hux pointed out with his finger.

"According to Ren himself, the inhabitants of this planet have proven to be most incompetent, even more so than the villagers we faced on Jakku with technology and weapons that are far more primitive in nature so thanks to that, we've been able to spread our influence to these designated areas by destroying their villages and raiding their homes for possible candidates to breed into soldiers, meaning that once we leave here, we could possibly have another catalog of reinforcements to call upon."

"How fast did we achieve this result sir?" Lohot asked, his voice showcasing a severe amount of politeness as he pointed towards the hologram.

"In the span of just one day and a few minutes." Hux responded.

"Wow, they must be quite the pathetic species!" Jagel commented with a chuckle, inciting a glare from Gozil.

"Don't get your hopes up, remember that it was due to little furry beasts that we were once taken out before, don't let underestimation be our downfall." said Gozil rather coldly, causing Jagel to remain silent and slightly murmur to himself. Ignoring the both of them, Pellaeon kept his attention on Hux.

"So you mentioned the good news," He began with a voice full of curiosity. "is there anything on the opposite side of the spectrum?"

"Aside from Ren being a blasted idiot." blurted Liux.

"Hold your tongue Admiral." responded Pellaeon gruffly. "You don't want reports of this going back to the Supreme Leader would you?"

"Oh please," Gozil scoffed. "as much as I disagree with this idiot, even I have to agree that Ren is a tool, we were way better off with Lord Vader."

"Finally something we agree o-wait, what did you just call m-"

"Moving on." Hux interjected with a slightly raised voice. "While the mission has been a success as far as expanding the First Order's influence is concerned, we still have not found the two girls and to make matters worse, we know LITTLE about them aside from basic appearance details by Ren which to be honest, sound so bloody common that they could be describing any damned person. Goes to show how stupidly arrogant Ren is honestly."

"You see Pellaeon? Even the general agrees with me." said Liux with a cocky smirk.

"Just because I do doesn't mean I necessarily want to hear about your stupidity admiral." Hux responded with a serious tone which didn't seem to phase the scarred man at all.

"I'm just reiterating the truth," He responded with a shrug. "this whole operation has been, in my honest opinion, a complete and utter waste of our time and further proof that Kylo is nothing but a weak-minded whiner who will continue to make stupid decisions all based on that outdated fossil he calls the Force. We're exactly in the same spot that Lord Vader put us in."

"Excuse me?" questioned Gozil with a slight hint of anger.

"Oh don't tell me you actually believed in that nonsense." began Liux with his cocky smirk now developed into a grin. "Vader was only slightly more competent and by that I mean the only difference was that he knew how to run a military but he never seemed to put that into good use when the Death Star was destroyed."

"Remember Liux that you joined right toward the tail end of the war." Gozil began with pointer finger outstretched. "You've never actually seen Lord Vader in person."

"Mostly because I never wanted to stare at an overrated buckethead like him."

"Spare me the idiocy, if you ever were at the mercy of him with hand pointed towards you while your windpipe was being gripped shut, you would be singing a completely different tune."

"No offense to either of you fine gents but am I the only one that truthfully sees the benefits of this operation?" Pellaeon began. "I mean you can speak ill of Ren all you want and look, even I wasn't very keen on the idea of this operation but after giving it some thought, I find that this is nothing but true brilliance in motion. Think about it, we poured SO much into Starkiller Base and look what happened. We are now like cripples, slowly and awkwardly hobbling through the battlefield as if we were shot in both kneecaps with only our drive for victory moving us forward and you know what? The exact same happened with us and the Death Star. I think I speak for the three other people in this room when I say that Kylo Ren has not signed the First Order's death certificate but rather, he is giving us a chance to actually hone our skills and takeover a world that is ripe with possible supporters and resources which would serve as excellent reinforcement in our army and despite the search for the girls being difficult... well... look at how difficult the search for Skywalker has been! Unlike the search for that Jedi, we haven't had to move to another planet yet which means one could assume that Ren actually does feel the presence in the Force and that unlike Skywalker, it was the very sight of the map which we have in view that caused him to have a vision and in my experience so far from the few times I met with Snoke, the Force does not lie."

"What are you exactly getting at here young one?" Gozil asked, both his face and voice showing a slight bit of curiosity.

"Surely you aren't ACTUALLY calling the temperamental brat a genius." said Liux with a disrespectful scoff.

"My dear comrades, I'm just merely insinuating that with all this talk about Kylo Ren being foolish by suggesting this plan, I feel that many fail to see the benefits in this bold new direction."

"You really consider pure stupidity to be a benefit?" Liux mockingly asked. Giving him nothing but a small glare, Pellaeon just continued right as he took off his black cap for a moment to run his hand through his slick black hair.

"I'm not saying this operation is being perfectly conducted, the idea to take most of our forces out here for a hunch still is by all means... questionable but that isn't the point. What I'm trying to get at is that this mission is still ONLY in its early stages and as far as we can tell, it has provided more successes for us than failures and I'm certain it will continue to provide as we continue on. I mean just look at the planet!" Right at that moment, Pellaeon pressed his open palm down on a small holopad, the mechanism making a small beeping noise right as the hologram of Earth began to enlarge before changing into a series of several windows that listed off various pieces of foreign wildlife and materials that were completely new to the officers present.

"With this intel, we've already deduced that the world is far more diverse and unique than any other system we have explored before. It has the arid sands of Jakku and Tatooine, the lush forests of Endor, massive sprawling cities like Coruscant, all those years of wasting away on simple supply runs can now possibly be reduced to just a matter of a few days here! Even if Kylo fails to find the girls and this whole mission turns out to be a bust, we still have an excellent location for resource harvesting that if used correctly, can at long last restore the dignity we have craved for ages! Do you get what I'm saying?" For the first time in a long while, Hux's eyes began to widen and his mind began to brainstorm through several ideas and outcomes. Being born into the Empire when it was on its last legs, the general had unfortunately become very numb to all the ridiculous suggestions that were thrown out by the so-called "professionals" who were extremely difficult to take seriously since most of their "plans" sounded less like actual strategies and more like a spoiled brat's personal fantasy after a sibling snatches something valuable from them and it was this alone which gave him his hatred for meetings with anyone other than Snoke, Phasma or hell, even Ren.

Which was why he was extremely shocked when Pellaeon, possibly one of the youngest admirals in the room, actually came up with a valid, planned and extremely educated reason as to why they should actually start looking towards the positives of the mission instead of the negatives. Granted his own personal gripes about this were still present and he was still Llargely against the idea of remaining here but at the very least, the aspiring cadet's words were getting his mental motors running and if this was still the Empire in its prime, he was certain most of the officials at that time would agree. However, it was Liux's sudden bout of mocking laughter that served as his daily reminder that those days were nothing but a distant memory.

"Would you look at that?" Liux said in-between chuckles. "This buffoon is seriously siding with the masked idiot! Oh how the First Order has fallen." After a few more minutes of laughter, Gozil had finally had it up to there with his comrade's attitude and immediately slammed his fist down hard onto his communication device, causing the transmission to crackle and fizzle for a few seconds right as he began.

"Listen here you pampered brat!" Gozil began with an growl. "I don't care who you answer to but if you were on my ship, I would've tossed your immature ass onto a pod and launched you towards the nearest star for this nonsense!"

"My old friend, it appears you're losing it a bit." Liux began with his mocking chuckle and smile still present. "After all, you are cursing when there is clearly children present."

"Funny," Gozil said with a hint of sarcasm. "I never thought you to be the honorable prudish type."

"What can I say? Unlike those outdated fossils such as yourself, I'm still actually someone who is for change."

"Like what? Letting idiots like you run the First Order into the ground?" Liux simply kept his smirk.

"Clever comeback but no, I was thinking more changes that are far more... drastic. Like ridding this military of any follower of the so-called 'Force' because with the way I see it my friends, people like Ren have caused nothing but trouble for our troupe. They always intervene on private affairs, they constantly waste millions of credits on ridiculous hunches and when questioned about any one of their methods, that poor fool most times falls to them, thus costing us even MORE in promising troopers and with Ren in particular, now broken equipment is something we have to take into account. Which is why it's a pity that you had to go and admit your loyalty to that brat Pellaeon and you were shaping up to be such a good recruit as well and as for you Gozil... well, do I even need to bring up Vader's failures again?" While Gozil just gave him a glare, the young recruit just rolled his eyes.

"So typical people like you are," Pellaeon said with a scoff. "if nothing goes your way, the first order of business is to get rid of everything without working out a way around the issue and if no one agrees with you, you believe that it's a sign of weakness. No wonder the First Order is going under."

"Careful boy," The admiral said rather irritably. "you don't want to know what happens to fools like you on my sh-"

"Oh quit your blabbering!" Gozil interjected. "If you actually had the stones to do that to your troops, you would be no better than the so-called 'zealots' you have a problem with."

"I will NOT be held to the same level of brats such as Ren you old fossil!"

"Look at that, you're now bursting into a tantrum." Gozil said with a smirk. "Careful admiral or you just might pop a blood vessel."

"DO YOU REALLY WANT TO TEST ME OLD MAN?!"

"Well I am now aren't I? I'm pressing your buttons and you're just letting me do so."

"If it was possible, I would open fire on you in an instant!"

"It's behavior like this that make me unfortunately ashamed to be on this team." McQuarrie said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Did I ask for your opinion painter? No? Then shut your trap!" Immediately, Pellaeon stood up with his face becoming red with fury.

"I refuse to stand by and listen to my comrade being pelted with insults by an immature little brat in a suit!" The young recruit growled.

"Hush your tone!"

"Make him hush." Gozil taunted. "Go on Liux, if you're really so high and mighty, why don't you just open fire on this ship and put this whole thing to rest?"

"It's because I actually care about the well-bei-"

"Wrong, it's because you are nothing but a coward. You are nothing but a sad, stupid little coward who won't pull that trigger because you know that the moment you do, Ren will notice and will slice you to bits. It's not that you actually hate these individuals but rather... you're afraid of what they could and would do to you if you ever dared to speak out like this against them. I know for a fact that if Ren were here, you would've kept your lips tightly sealed, stood up straight, and wouldn't have dared to start anything with him because you are nothing but a young fool."

"I find your lack of faith in me quite disturbing old man." He said with a low growl. Gozil just looked him dead in the eyes with a mocking expression.

"Faith? In you? I never had any to begin with and why would I? My faith is only reserved for those who are actually strong-willed and intelligent, both of which are qualities I've never seen you have." A deathly silence filled the room with Liux just staring on with pure fury in his eyes that, as far as Hux could tell, showcased the signs of just how much he wished he could murder the man in front of him. Gozil on the other hand, kept his cool and instead kept his mocking expression though it now had a hint of curiosity. After a few more minutes, Liux was finally opening his mouth.

"Why you lit-"

"Enough!" Hux interjected with a large amount of bluntness. "If you can't act like actual grown adults, I will personally see to it that you are ejected from the First Order and are left with NOTHING to go back to. Understand?!" Immediately, the admirals gave Hux a quick salute since despite the bitter battle of "old vs. new", they knew better than to anger Hux.

"My apologies general." Gozil began. "It won't happen again."

"Same here," Liux said. "so moving on, what are your orders?" Relieved that they finally got to the point, Hux let out a nice relaxed breath.

"Glad we could finally move on." He began. "Now as you all may know, I was constantly rallying for us to just change course and just continue our battle against the Republic. As expected, Ren is completely refusing those requests and instead continuously insists that we stay here. However, I believe that I have finally come up with a solution that will hopefully soften the blow of any possible failure by a significant amount." With that said, the general looked towards his side of the console and pressed his own holopad which caused the hologram of the Earth to zoom out. Once it was to the place and angle he needed it, Hux pointed towards the direction away from the planet as he continued on.

"Gozil, Liux, Jagel, Jalose, since the troopers are mainly on this ship, I'm assigning you four with the important task of taking your two Destroyers and heading back to our galaxy, I will of course remain here to pick up and keep an eye on Ren in case anything happens." Immediately, the four nodded in agreement though it was clear through one voice that one person wasn't necessarily the most comfortable with it.

"Forgive me for asking sir but wouldn't that be signing your death certificate?" Hux turned towards the source of the voice and saw the young Bendu who was looking as sheepish as he did way back when he first joined. "It's only a concern I have because you and I know..."

"That Ren has a tendency to kill staff for defying him, I know." Hux said with a sigh. "But you do forget that I was specifically assigned this job by Supreme Leader Snoke who may I remind you is his master. If the fool were to try and lay even a single finger on me, Snoke would find out and he would easily be reprimanded for his actions, possibly with a fate worse than death and knowing him, he would most definitely not want to upset his master." Feeling just a slight bit dumb, Bendu slowly began to lower himself back down onto his chair, remaining quiet through the rest of the meeting. Turning his attention back towards the group, Hux set his hands behind his back and stood up straight.

"Gentlemen, the meeting is adjourned." As soon as he finished, the four gave their salutes before immediately proceeding to shut off their holocommunicators, the blue images fizzling and crackling for a few moments before disappearing completely. Feeling slightly relieved that the ordeal was done, the general turned towards his own staffers.

"The rest of you, get back to your positions and be sure to keep working on the comm-channels. I want Snoke to hear every detail about our mission."

"We won't let you down general." Pellaeon said with a confident smile and salute right before he proceeded to walk off.

"I hope so admiral." Hux mentally began as he proceeded to turn towards the window with eyes that were full of conflict. "I hope so." As the massive warships began to ever so slowly turn around, the general couldn't help but think back to both what Pellaeon said regarding the possibilities of this mission and what could possibly go down if things went so horribly wrong.

"I sure hope what my friend said is true Kylo Ren." Hux mentally began. "For both your sake and mine since I feel that Snoke won't exactly let this slide."

* * *

 _Several lightyears away..._

( _Jakku_ ) _  
_

Like all desert planets, Jakku was by no means looked upon with respect. With the total feeling of desolation it possessed, the relentless hot sun that just beat against your temples like it was a drum and the lack of interesting locales, one would consider that the planet was just... plain and uninteresting. However, like another certain desert planet, it wasn't necessarily the looks that had everyone looking at it with disgust and it certainly had nothing to do with crime which when compared to that other desert planet, was fairly tame which was due in no small part to a certain constable who currently had a fat alien pinned up against a wall as several scavengers continued to go about their day.

"You can't do this to me!" The armor wearing alien called out with a growl as the masked constable tightened the cuffs around his tubby little wrists. "You're arresting a legitimate business man! You'r-OW!"

"Zip the lips Plutt." Zuvio spat right as he shook his fist of the pain of punching hard metal. "You're nothing but a lying little sneak trying to replace the Hutt clan." In response, the alien was completely dumbfounded.

"What?!" Plutt asked in disbelief. "How dare you compare me to the Hutts?! I'll have you know Zuvio that my men will not stand f-OW!"

"Spare me the trouble, I've been trying to nail you for many years now and I would've had you too if it weren't for the First Order causing all that mess." His options running thin, Plutt decided to try something he used to pull with the constable's men whenever he was caught and was just praying it would work.

"You know, maybe I'm being a little too hasty here. Perhaps some nice portions would d-OW! WOULD YOU STOP T-AGGH!"

"Nice try, but bribes don't work on this grizzled Kyuzo." The constable said with a low grumble right as he jerked Plutt away from the wall. A few seconds later, he turned on his communicator with his grip still being set on Plutt.

"This is Zuvio reporting in, I have Unkar Plutt under arrest for constant bouts of theft, bribery and for illegally smuggling weapons, requesting support immediately..." Zuvio's voice trailed off the moment his ears picked up on something familiar, something... howling like a rampaging demon. Seeing as how his grip was loosening, Unkar took his chance and tried to get away, only to look up in the air at the flaming ship that was rapidly hurdling towards the planet's surface.

"What is th-OOF!" Plutt felt as his entire body came crashing to the ground from the force of the constable's rough shove with his body fat thankfully softening most of the blow. A few seconds later, Zuvio immediately dived to the side in a move that frightened the trader a little bit. That small jump soon sprouted into full-blown fright once he saw a familiar metal shape, the dreaded TIE Fighter, collide with his shop, causing the whole thing to fall to pieces with the fighter quickly dragging across the sand before finally going up in flames the moment it hit a nearby pod-racer, a sight that soon replaced his fear with a bout of anger as he then began to shake angrily on the ground in a desperate attempt to get himself up.

"HEY! THAT'S MINE!" Ignoring him, Zuvio slowly began to straighten himself out before proceeding to pull out a small pair of binoculars. Looking up into the sky, it took a little bit of finesse to get the device working properly but once it was, he just felt his mouth drop open with pure shock at the sight of two faint blurry shapes, locked in what looked to be a massive battle over the planet.

 _In Orbit..._

"All TIE squadrons, line your ships up behind me!" A pilot with red streaks on his helmet shouted over the comm-link. Not wanting to anger him, the three troopers wasted no time and lined their ships behind the leading TIE with their sights now being set on the enemy ships right in front.

"Remember, failure is not an option! If you see a weak spot, don't waste time and give it all you've got!"

"Roger. I read you loud and cl-AGGH!" Right at that moment, the transmission became nothing but static.

"Cadet?! Cadet, can you read m-AAAAGGGHH!" Before the commander could let anything more out, his vision was filled with red as several beams came crashing into the hull, causing the dreaded fighter to immediately go up in smoke with the pilot's helpless corpse now floating in the endless abyss of space. Obviously fearful of their two comrades' sudden death, the other two immediately began spreading out, a sight that served as a wonderful little view for the pilot behind the black and orange ship that lined itself right behind one of them.

"This is where the fun begins." The man said before pressing down on his controls, watching as several red hot beams of pure energy came flying from the cannons and straight into the connecting point of the frantic fighter's wing, causing the connection to immediately sever which in turn caused the ship to go spinning out of control before finding a nice spot on the Star Destroyer bridge where it became nothing but a fireball of metal shards and glass. Smirking, the pilot wasted no time and turned his attention towards the other ship which was currently tailing one that was like his own with the exception being that the colors were a familiar grey and red. Wasting no time, he flipped a few switches and hightailed it towards the TIE with guns blazing. With the Resistance pilot below, the man was trying desperately to shake the TIE off him with every maneuver seeming to fail. After a few more attempts, he felt as the ship immediately shook, causing him to jerk in his seat for a moment before realizing that he had lost his droid. Feeling as hopeless as ever, the pilot was ready to accept his fate into the great beyond when suddenly, he heard a loud shrill screech along with an explosion. Turning towards his cockpit, he watched as the TIE that was tailing him was nothing more but a heaping pile of scrap heading towards the planet below and how a few seconds later, the relieving sight of a black and orange ship came pulling up with the man behind the cockpit giving him a thumbs up.

"Thanks for the save Poe, though that was cutting it a little too close." The pilot said with a sigh of relief right after he returned the thumbs up.

"Sorry about that, I was a little held up by a few relentless squadrons, you know how these guys can get."

"Boy do I ever." The pilot said with a chuckle. "Speaking of which, when do you think they're going to let up?"

"No idea." Poe replied. "But if I have to guess, it certainly won't be anytime soon, we'll have to fight our way through."

"Don't we always do that?"

"Hey, it's what we enjoy isn't it?"

"Can't argue with that."

"Glad to hear." Poe began with a smirk. "Alright Senfan, keep fighting the good fight, I'm going to contact the admiral." The pilot said before shifting into a more serious persona right after he tweaked around with his com-link.

"Admiral, this is Poe Dameron, come in..."

 _On the ship..._

Back on the old, slightly dingy Mon Calamari starcruiser, several staff members were frantically rushing throughout the room, their faces being a combination of stern, straight-faced bravery to looks of concern and fear. At the head of it all in his command chair, wearing several varying shades of brown and with his fish-like head, the admiral was looking out at the battlefield with a face full of determination and a slight hint of worry.

"Not to worry you but remember! If we fail this battle, we possibly are putting the whole galaxy at stake so whatever you do, keep fighting!"

"Admiral can you read me? This is Poe Dameron of Rapier Squadron coming in." A voice sounded off from his control panel. Immediately, the Mon Calamari pressed down on a small yellow button before proceeding.

"I read you loud and clear Poe. Can you give us a status report?"

"We've taken out most of the TIE squadrons so far but their forces just keep coming faster than we can shoot them down and to make matters worse, we still haven't heard from our sabotage teams inside the Destroyer." Taking a moment to take in a deep breath, Ackbar simply set his face against his palm and shook it for a little before continuing.

"Unfortunately it has also been the same on our end." Ackbar began with a sigh. "It's clear that ever since your little escapade on Jakku, the First Order is trying their damnedest to keep us out."

"No kidding, it's like they took Jakku as a personal insult."

"More like they're still reeling from Starkiller's destruction."

"Really? Why would they still be pissed about that?"

"Let's just say that the Empire never forgets about its failures."

"That's good enough for me." Poe said, his tone taking on something a bit more lighthearted. "How's the chat going up there?" Taking a moment, the Mon Calamari looked to his right where he saw Leia with her scouts and C-3P0 discussing and right there, he could tell from the general's expression that things were NOT going well.

"Not good, from the looks of things they still haven't quite figured out what happened with that map."

"That's a shame, any guesses?"

"So far the only one we have is that the First Order might've intercepted it though we're still unclear about the details."

"What exactly was in that map anyway?" The admiral let out a sigh.

"Well I-ACK!" Ackbar's grip on his chair immediately tightened right before he could fall, his quick action just barely stopping him right as his face was staring straight down at the ground below.

"Admiral? Come in admiral!" Poe's frantic voice called out. A few minutes later, Ackbar straightened himself out in his chair, his hand rubbing a small bruise on his other wrist.

"Don't worry Poe, I'm fine." Immediately, the admiral turned towards the staff. "Damage report, now!"

"The turbolasers were just unleashed on our hull!" The Mon Calamari staffer began. "A few more blasts and we'll be done for!"

"Like hell we will!" Ackbar yelled right as he turned his attention back towards the communications device. "Poe, new orders! Target those turbolasers and life support systems! The last we heard of our sabotage crew was when they disabled the shield so you should be in the clear!"

"Roger, Dameron out." Soon after the communications went silent, the Mon Calamari just sat back in his chair and began to stroke his chin, all while longingly staring out at the GIGANTIC Star Destroyer in front of him.

"May the Force give us strength." Thought Ackbar. Back on the lower levels as mentioned before, a clearly distressed General Leia along with a few scouts and C-3P0 were locked in a heated discussion with one another.

"We've checked every bit of the wreckage there was, the map isn't there." The first male scout said.

"And to make matters worse," The female began. "we still have no clue about where most of the Order's fleet is." Letting out a frustrated sigh, the former princess couldn't help but rub her face, the stress clearly getting to her with every wrinkle she massaged.

"They couldn't have possibly gone far," The golden protocol droid began. "what would they possibly want with a useless map anyway?"

"Most likely the word got around that there was another copy of the map to Skywalker and considering their leader's possible mental instability, it looks as though they didn't care how impossible that sounds." One of the scouts began. "Remember, it's clear they want revenge for Starkiller Base."

"Of course I know that, I just find it odd that they would willingly attack a retrieval ship which didn't have what they needed and a few moments later, they just so happen to disappear for a few days."

"It's odd to us too, we wish we could bring more info to you but all we can do is speculate." Seeing no better option, Threepio just nodded in defeat and decided that this would be best.

"Well then in that case, let's speculate. Starting off, let's try to pinpoint who is possibly missing." In response, the two scouts nodded and began to ponder with their hands lightly grasping their chins the whole way through.

"Hmm... well... obviously Snoke wouldn't be involved... but it seems as though most of the MAIN fleet is gone and usually that's in command of Hux."

"AND Kylo Ren."

"Of course," The scout said with an agreeing nod. "and yet, they're nowhere to be seen."

"Which is most strange though I think with Kylo, a simple explanation would be that he simply is still training with Snoke."

"Sad to say but that's impossible, several troopers reported seeing him on the battlefield during a skirmish on Florrum a few days before the fleet went AWOL."

"Well... that just complicates things." said Threepio with a hint of concern. "Now that just begs the question, if Kylo Ren did go off with the fleet, what possibly could've influenced him?" The thought soon popped into the former princess's mind which caused her to start pondering over it. Rubbing her chin, Leia began to think back to every reported Kylo sighting since Starkiller's destruction along with how she used to feel his presence in the Force and how on the day the retrieval ship went down, she could feel his presence slowly becoming fainter and fainter with every passing moment.

"He was always so locked on Luke and... Han." Stopping for a moment to relax, the general took in a deep breath and shut her eyes tight. Despite how long it had been, she still could not shake the feeling of anguish she felt in her heart when her husband left her all alone and despite not being there to see it with her own eyes, she could still remember visualizing and feeling as the pulsing hot red blade was rammed straight through the chest, almost as if she was there right along with the action. It almost seemed as though it was only yesterday when she started to go into denial about the whole experience, she just could not, WOULD not believe that her husband, the brave, brash Han Solo, would just fall like that and she was the indirect cause of it... which just hurt far more. Had she known that Kyl-no... Ben, had gone that far into the Dark Side, she would've kept Han as FAR from him as humanly possibly but as it was now, he was just... gone and unlike Luke, there was no way of possibly bringing him back.

Letting a single tear drop from her face, the general then proceeded to shake herself free of this sadness and instead continued to focus on the topic at hand.

"From what I can recall, that retrieval ship carried a map to Earth." She thought to herself. "We were planning on bringing back two children that Han sent away as one of his 'brilliant' ideas of keeping Ren's influence away. But why would Ren just disappear if the ship was o-" Right at that moment, the thought just hit her like a ton of bricks and soon after, the Force was rapidly picking up as flashes of familiar faces flooded her system along with broken up pieces of sentences that clearly were a part of her past.

"The only way..."

"...want them here..."

"en's influe..."

"...Dark Side..."

All of this and more came rushing to her system at speeds she couldn't possibly comprehend and it went on for what FELT like several minutes. After a little while had passed, she felt like screaming her heart out when she felt the bite of cold metal touching her shoulder.

"General? GENERAL?!" Shaking herself free, Leia immediately turned towards the protocol droid with eyes that seemed ready to burst into tears. Seeing her shaken expression, Threepio couldn't help but feel a little estranged since being a droid, it meant that he couldn't understand every emotion but he certainly did try.

"Um, General Organa, are you... doing alrig-"

"We have to get down to Jakku now." She said with a degree of urgency in her voice.

"I beg your pardon?" Threepio asked, taken aback by Leia's change in demeanor.

"We have to grab the map as soon as we can!"

"I... don't think I quite get what you're talking abo-"

"Threepio..." Leia began with a sigh right as she lightly gripped her droid by the shoulders, taking only a little bit of time to not snag her finger on the sharp metal ridges that lined them. With how intensely she was staring into the droid's optics, one could easily mistake this for the general having finally gone insane with wanting to romance metal but taking a closer look, everyone could tell that this was a far more serious matter.

"Princess, you're scaring me a bit, what is it that you're worried about?" Taking in a deep breath, Leia held it for a few moments with her gaze not leaving Threepio's one bit. After a few seconds, she finally let it out right as she released the small piece of info.

"Threepio..." Leia began with a low tone. "Ren's after my daughters."

* * *

 _Several lightyears away..._

( _Village Wreckage_ )

When she first listened to the description of this so-called "First Order", Esdeath quickly assumed rather foolishly that they would actually be a very, VERY easy find due to the "otherworldly" appearance that many villagers she discussed with claimed them to have along with the so-called "screeching demons" that they had control over. With that in mind, the ice queen went off with the estimation of when they would meet up with the organization being roughly 15 minutes in length. Fast forward several hours later where after what felt like a month's worth of searching, there was no sign of the group anywhere, making it the last time the ice queen would ever dare to trust civilians to give her important information. However, she at least did find one important clue... and it was one that shocked her both in how obvious it was and how terrible the act was.

"The Order... did all this?" Wave asked as he continued to look around at what remained of what was once a peaceful village. Gone were the innocent little wood structures and cheerful civilians and in its place were burning shards and corpses that were still cooking to the bone from the hot fires that continued to burn. "Bols, does this bring back anything?"

"Unfortunately, it does." The big guy commented, referring to his time as a merciless killer. With this one sight alone, the brutish looking man was actually giving his own killings a reevaluation and unfortunately, he found that NONE of them held a candle to the sheer level of destruction that was present here. "They didn't just destroy this place, they DEMOLISHED it." Feeling his confidence rapidly dropping, the young swordsman's mind just kept thinking back to what would eventually happen when they met this Kylo Ren. What would he do? What would he say? Would he honestly take their offer? If where they were was to be believed, the answer to that question was nothing but a big fat "NO!". Most likely, as Wave guessed, when he met Ren, the confrontation could only end badly and despite how horrific the thought was, he just couldn't take his mind off of it. On the other side of him, Kurome was having it much worse with that wide-eyed look she had from before now being present once more.

"There's that look again." Wave thought to himself. "Granted I'm probably frightened just as much as she is but she legit looks like she's about to burst into tears at any given time. If one man can cause this then I just have to ask, what the hell did he do to her if anything?" Walking around for a few more seconds, the orange-haired Seryu heard Koro whimper a small bit right before he buried his face into her chest.

"What is it buddy?" She asked, concerned but when she looked ahead of her, her face went pale with shock at the sight. Several corpses of people both young and old, were piled on top of each other, each with faces of pure anguish though that wasn't what caught her attention. What actually did was the fact the pile was set aflame, like this Kylo person decided to use them as firewood and so at that point, she could only look on with horror as the flesh slowly peeled from their faces, revealing charred blackened bone. Much like how she was reacting right now, the blonde Run also couldn't help but stare.

"And all this was done in the span of a few minutes." Run thought to himself. "Either this First Order has the most advanced tech we've seen or they're just THAT good." Stopping for a moment, the man turned towards Wave and Kurome, taking in the distressed look on their faces as concern began to fill his mind. "Whatever the case may be, I know that if Kurome is having a hard time now then when we meet this Kylo, I predict she will have a massive panic attack." Despite the horrific visual presented to her, Esdeath just saw it as no different from when she would lead attacks on villages. In fact, some would say the sight quite... fascinated her. Stopping in front of the elder's home, or what was left of it, the ice queen dropped down to one knee once she reached the old man's bloodied corpse which had a hole in the chest SO massive that she nearly mistook it as being caused by one of the Three Beasts she used to lead around.

"Impressive." Esdeath thought to herself. "While I'm disappointed with how we still haven't found this First Order, at the very least we have confirmation that they're indeed just as powerful as initial reports suggested." Stopping for a moment, the ice queen took two fingers and began to outstretch them towards the hole in the chest which had a combination of both fresh and dried blood. For the next few seconds, she began to feel the insides of the corpse, all while continuing her internal monologue.

"Amazing," She began right as she pulled her hand free and examined the fresh red fluid. "it was almost like he was burned through rather than cut. Whoever this Kylo Ren is, they're clearly experienced at what they do. It's almost like they're mirroring..." The ice warrior stopped right as she felt a familiar sensation beginning to creep in, one that she knew all too well, a feeling that would continuously haunt her every day and night ever since the day of the tournament... for whatever reason, Kylo Ren's ways of "dealing" with the populace were almost identical to her own... and it seemed as though because of that, it was bringing about her feelings for Tatsumi. Feeling the heat on her cheeks beginning to seep in, the ice queen stopped for a moment and just continued to stare down at the corpse.

"Could he... could there possibly be... an-another?" She thought to herself. Had she been the only one, she most certainly would've stayed there for minutes, hours, hell, maybe even DAYS on end thinking about this if it weren't for a certain big guy shaking her shoulder a slight bit.

"Forgive me ma'am." Bols began. "But I regret to inform you that we've checked every part there is and we couldn't find a single piece of evidence to go off of." Despite this being something she should be frustrated with, Esdeath actually found herself being rather... indifferent to the thought. After a few minutes of gazing into nothingness, the ice queen just shook her head free of thought.

"Alright then," Esdeath began as she stood up. "there's nothing more to examine here, let's move out!" With a quick nod, every Jaeger immediately followed after the ice queen once she started down her path away from the village remains. All except for two who hesitated but after a few seconds, the girl decided it was time.

"You heard her," She began with her usual cold tone. "let's go." Right as she took her first step, Wave immediately gripped her by the wrist, a move that both shocked and frustrated her.

"What are you doing? We have to go." In response, Wave shook his head.

"Not until you tell me what's going on." Despite feeling her eyes slightly widening, Kurome still managed to keep her cold tone and continued to try and tug her arm away, only to find that Wave's grip was as tight and hard as steel.

"Let go."

"I can't do that, there's something going on with you."

"Didn't you hear me?" Kurome began, slightly raising her voice. "I said let go!"

"I just want to help you Kurome."

"There's nothing to help me with!"

"Yes there is." Wave responded, his voice slightly raising. "I can tell in your voice that something is wrong!"

"Leave me alone! Focus on the mission!"

"Kurome, if you can just..."

"Esdeath will kill us if we do this!"

"Kurome please..."

"No, there is nothing to worry about so just leave me be!"

"THEN WHAT WAS ALL THAT CRAP ABOUT THE MASKED MAN ABOUT?!" The swordswoman immediately froze in place, the memories quickly flooding her mind. With just this one sight, the boy could easily tell that this was affecting her way more than what she was letting on and despite his conscience telling him not to, he just continued to poke and prod.

"Ever since this whole thing about Kylo Ren started, you've been very out of it lately." He began, taking notice of how Kurome shuddered at the name being mentioned. "Every time the name is spoken, you shudder. Throughout the whole meeting, your voice was shaking and now, you're just acting cold clearly to hide something." Silence filled the air for a few moments when Wave heard a few sniffles coming from Kurome and when she spoke, he took notice of just how much more shaky it was than normal.

"T-T-There i-i... There i-..." Stopping her, Wave gently set another hand on her shoulder before proceeding to turn her around so that the two were gazing into each others eyes.

"I can tell there's something wrong." Wave said with a low somber but caring voice. "I only want to help you, you just have to let me in." At that moment, the final words triggered something inside Kurome's head. For a few seconds, the final phrase repeated as normal with little difference. However, as time went on, the voice became lower, more raspy and the phrase changed into something a bit more of what she considered to be... sinister.

"Let it in." After a little while longer, Kurome just froze in place once more with her eyes wide open with fear. Concerned for her, Wave immediately changed his tone.

"Kurome?" He began, only to receive no answer. "Kurome are you doing okay?" Again no answer, the only visible sight being a slight quiver in her lip. After a few more minutes, Wave decided to try one more time.

"Kuro-" Before he could even react, the swordswoman immediately wrapped her arms around him and buried her face deep into his shirt right as she began to cry.

"That man," Kurome began, her voice slightly muffled. "Wave he's not just a mere man, he's someone I know. I met him before and I can't remember when. All I know was that he kept telling me these... these strange things about the Force and that if I don't follow the Dark Side, he'll... he'll... he'll kill my family! I-I-I don't know what to do Wave! I know it's most likely a dream but everything about this feels... it just feels too real!" At that point, Wave's heart sank faster than the Titanic. For all the time he had spent with Kurome, the words "strong", "caring" and "determined" came to mind but never, NEVER in all of his life would he ever have imagined that she would actually BREAK like this and so easily. Of course, one can never jump to conclusions but with how strongly she reacted to this and how fast his mind was brainstorming, he came across some thoughts he wished he never would've for he knew that they would haunt him for another couple of weeks after all this was over.

At that point, Wave had to use every ounce of his strength and willpower to resist pulling away from Kurome to try and find Ren for himself. At that moment, he didn't care if he possibly wasn't strong enough, he just wanted to see Ren die despite having never known him. But despite this, he knew where the issue lay and so without much hesitation, he looked down towards the swordswoman and wrapped his arms around her in a nice loving embrace.

"Kurome." He began, his voice low and understanding. "I just... I don't even know what to say, whatever it was you went through, I'm... I'm sorry you had to go through that." Feeling the warmth of both his voice and hug overtaking her, Kurome immediately halted herself right as the boy tightened his hug.

"But I would just like to let you know that you are the strongest, sweetest girl I know and that regardless of what may happen to you, whether it be through real life or a dream, you will always be that girl both in my heart and in real life. But if it does make you feel any better, I will promise you this, I will NEVER let Kylo Ren harm you one bit you hear me? Dare I say I will even go as far as to possibly disobey Esdeath to make sure that will never happen to you." Overall, the swordswoman... didn't know what to think honestly. The only person that used to be this close to her in her life was her sister Akame before the falling out and yet despite having not known each other as long, Wave was already treating her as if he had known her for years and years with the feeling just being so strange but nevertheless so heartwarming. After a couple more minutes, Kurome pulled away from Wave's chest ever so slightly and looked into his eyes, her face still stained with tears.

"D-D-Do you really mean that?" She asked to which the swordsman simply nodded and gave her a small smile.

"I do and I'll continue to believe that until the day that I die which I hope is when I'm protecting you." Despite the pain she still felt in her heart, it was the boy's words that helped to heal those wounds. After a little while longer, Kurome could feel herself becoming weak in the knees though her heart was still warm as ever. As if he sensed it, the boy wasted no time and brought her in once more for a hug that was far tighter and way more loving than the first time. After a few more seconds, Kurome returned this by tightening her grip around the boy right as her eyes shut and her lips formed into a smile.

"Thank you Wave." She said with a light friendly voice.

"It's the least I can do for someone like you." Wave responded, his hand lightly caressing her head. Unbeknownst to them, high above in the trees, a lavender haired tanned man was watching with a frightening psychotic gleam in his eye. Ready to strike, the man was just about to jump down when the thought of Kylo Ren popped into his mind. After about a minute or two, the man realized that Kylo just might be more fun and that maybe, he should just check up on how his "pets" were doing. With that in mind, the man leaped away, leaving the two friends exactly where they were, still locked in their loving embrace.

* * *

 _Author's Addendum:  
_

 **I just thought I'd explain a bit about the OCs featured here. They're just cameos and basically, they're more my friends and fans represented as characters. I tend to do this sometimes and to accomplish the effect, I took random parts of the names and combined them together. Just know that these personalities are not intended to reflect what I think of you, I just thought it would be cool to do this. Anyways, the characters whose names are references along with the source are as follows.  
**

 **Admiral Liux: Lil Knucklez**

 **Admiral Gozil: Godzilla327**

 **Admiral Jagel: Jacksonangelo105**

 **Admiral Jalose: Jalen Rose**

 **Admiral Pellaeon: Name was taken from the admiral of the same name in the book "Heir to the Empire".**

 **Admiral Bendu: Name taken from the original name for the Jedi, the "Jedi-Bendu".**

 **Admiral McQuarrie: Name taken from Ralph McQuarrie.**

 **Admiral Lohot: Name was made by mainly mixing up parts of the name "Longshot", CC-6776's OC Clone.**

 **Pilot Senfan: Name crafted from the account name SentaiFan95.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

( _Night Raid HQ_ )

In any military organization or combat situation, one was always told to expect the unexpected, don't always be so excessively sure of yourself unless victory is absolutely evident and you must always be three steps ahead of the enemy. These were words that Najenda and by extension, ALL of the Revolutionary Army followed for years and years from its very inception and of course, they had to since comparing the Revolutionary Army to the Empire was like comparing a stick to a bat, despite how both can hit something and cause damage, one just hits that much harder and is way more effective.

For many years now, it was thanks to the way of thinking they had set in place that they were able to achieve several victories, even in the face of insurmountable odds and when Tatsumi was brought into the fray, none of this ever changed, in fact, it was with the boy's tenacity and massive desire to protect the world that had got Night Raid so far and a few days earlier, it seemed as though everything was gonna go exactly the way they planned without a hitch.

However, this little charm of good luck was starting to seem like a bad omen over the course of several weeks which is what brought her to that small little meeting room which was only shared by the one she found herself trusting the most, Lubbock, who had a massive amount of concern for the commander's unsure and uneasy features and took this issue as seriously as he could which was evident in the tone of his voice.

"What was it you wanted to discuss?" Lub began. "Or better yet, why is it that only I can hear about this?" While taking a moment to seemingly to ponder it over, the silver-haired commander began to take a puff of her cigarette which he knew usually meant that she was either stressed out of her mind or relaxed, the latter of which he could already tell was not true in the slightest. Taking a few seconds to let the tobacco fill her lungs, she finally spoke with her tone being deathly serious.

"I'm sorry if this seems way too secretive for you Lubba." She began. "But I simply couldn't risk having another argument break out and I think that should give away who the subject is." At that point, the green-haired man let out a sigh. Tatsumi snapping the way he did the day before was one of the first times in a long, LONG while that Najenda had to deal with someone talking back to her in the way that he did. Of course, this was not uncommon for most guerrilla groups like them since one was always bound to disagree and usually, from what the man could remember, the worst that would happen with Najenda was that she would give them a look and everything would be all fine and dandy after that.

If only things were that easy. From the moment Tatsumi snapped to the moment he sat down, the amount of anger, hatred and sorrow that was radiating off of the boy was off the charts, FAR higher than what he expected and even after having a WHOLE day to cool down, the aura has not changed a bit. In fact, one would say that it had gotten worse and for someone like him who has occasionally been in close proximity to people as cold-hearted as Esdeath, he knows something is wrong when he thinks that person was just a bit calmer than what Tatsumi was.

"I know," Lubba began. "but with all due respect commander, shouldn't we be holding this in a more... private location? I mean, Tatsumi's room is just a few steps away from us." Najenda immediately gave him an approving nod right before taking another puff of her cigarette.

"I understand the concern but honestly, I just need to let it all out of my system Lubba." said Najenda right as she let out a chuckle of disbelief. Just to hear herself, Najenda, the stoic commander of Night Raid, pretty much admit that a member's attitude had her frustrated was something almost unheard of for her... however, it wasn't going to go unheard from anyone else other than Lubba as evidenced by the door down the halls that was cracked open ever so slightly.

"Alright then," Lubba began. "it's a huge risk but if you honestly want to let it out then by all means go for it." After mouthing a small "Thank you." to him, the commander straightened herself up in her chair right as she began to crush her finished cigarette with her prosthetic arm. Without anymore hesitation and as she was sprinkling the remains of her item into a small tray, she continued.

"Let's just cut to the chase, I have a feeling that Tatsumi is becoming more of a detriment to us then he is a help." She said bluntly. Immediately, the former imperial soldier's eyes widened.

"What?" He blurted out.

"You didn't mishear me Lubbock, Tatsumi to me is going to be a massive pain that unless he changes, we will have to 'deal' with him." Najenda responded, her voice showing a hint of frustration.

"But still, he's done so much for us, he has been a massive help, are you just going to deny tha-"

"Don't misunderstand me," Najenda interjected. "I'm not denying his usefulness. In fact, I believe him to be one of the MOST promising members that I have ever had the pleasure of taking in. He's skilled, loyal and he has this heart and charisma that aside from you, I've never seen in anyone else." Almost immediately, her small smile quickly faded right as she lit up another cigarette. "However, the boy is just far too emotional to keep on."

"But weren't we all like that at first?" Lubbock suggested. "Well of course Bulat, Akame, Susanoo and Chelsea were different stories but other than those guys, weren't me, Leone, Mine and Sheele still like that when we first dropped in?" The commander just gave him a nod, her expression unchanging.

"That is true," She began. "but after a little while of being here, you were able to control those emotions and direct them into something that was positive for all of us which is what makes Night Raid the way that it is today. However, as far as that boy is concerned, it has been several days now and he still hasn't gained that control."

"So?" Lubbock began with a shrug. "Tatsumi is still fairly fresh, give him a few more days and he might surprise you." At that moment, the man could tell that answer was not something she wanted to hear once he saw the massive green prosthetic fist beginning to tighten.

"We HAVE been giving him time." She said with a hint of frustration. "He has had several days to cope with the losses, he has had several days to get his emotions in check and hell, he even spent time with the Empire and got to witness firsthand why he must remain vigilant and yet despite all that, he STILL is the same that he was when Sheele died." Despite Najenda clearly being quite possibly at her worst at the moment, the warrior still kept his cool and continued on.

"Both of those deaths were hard on us," Lubbock began. "those two were some of the finest that we have ever worked with and in that span of time, Tatsumi had already proven himself to be an amazing fighter and despite how he is now, we still have him to thank for providing us with intel on the inner workings of the Jaegers and for destroying the Three Bea-"

"Not only that but he continuously defies orders and has showcased himself to be a complete WRECK as far as emotions are concerned!" screamed Najenda.

"And you think I haven't noticed?" Lubbock asked, his voice slightly raised. "I was there, I know how bad it's getting. During a recent sparring session, I could tell both in his eyes and his movements that he was letting his rage control him. As a matter of fact..." Stopping for a moment, the man quickly laid his right arm out on the table and rolled up his sleeves, revealing several portions of discoloration all throughout the flesh.

"I actually FELT it." He said. "He was practically aiming to kill me with that wooden sword."

"Then you should understand why I'm suggesting this." replied the commander. "Defend him all you want Lubbock but my thoughts will not be swayed, Tatsumi is a loose ca-"

"That's what you would like to think!" Lubbock cut off right as he roughly rolled his sleeve back down. "But with all due respect commander, Tatsumi is still the BEST chance we've got against the Capital! He knows so much about the Empire now that sending him off now would be a death sentence to us all."

"Who said anything about sending him off?" Najenda asked with a cocked eyebrow. Confused, Lubbock began to take a few moments to mentally debate this when suddenly, the realization came crashing down like bricks.

"You wouldn't..." Lubbock began, shaking his head in disbelief.

"You know that we would've done the same for you." Najenda said right as she took another puff. "After all, this was an issue you were made aware of."

"Please Najenda, all I'm asking is that you please give Tatsumi a little more time, the boy has been through a lot." Lubbock pleaded, his voice showing a massive amount of concern. Realizing that it was starting to get a little heated, Najenda took a moment to re-situate herself before proceeding to gently set her one caring fleshy hand down onto Lubbock's own.

"I know he's a good friend of yours Lubbock." Najenda began, her voice much softer than before. "I could tell from the first sparring session that the two of you connected so easily and trust me when I say that this isn't an easy call for me to make nor is it one that I want to go through."

"Then why suggest it at all?" Lubbock asked. Without raising her hand, the commander took a moment to give this a good long and hard thought, her brow scrunching ever so slightly as her prosthetic lightly gripped her chin. After a few more minutes of this, she let out a sigh and continued.

"The situation simply doesn't support any other option." She said rather simply.

"I don't think I follow." Lubbock responded, slightly confused. After letting out another sigh, the commander then set her prosthetic down by her side.

"What I mean is that if this was any other time and everything was still going the way I wanted it to, I might've been able to make a suggestion." Najenda began. Stopping for a moment, she took in a deep breath and held it for a few seconds and during that time, she took a moment to set her prosthetic down onto Lubba's hand and proceeded to gently rub it right as she continued. "But think about it Lubba, things haven't been going our way, have they?" The man did nothing but solemnly nod his head in agreement with Najenda continuing only a few seconds after he finished.

"Sheele is gone, Bulat is gone, the Danger Beasts have been making a complete mess of the army. We've had to move from one HQ to the next after the last one was invaded and now, we have a brand new threat on our hands in the form of this First Order and that so-called Kylo Ren and if they are exactly as Leone described, we need EVERYONE to have their heads in the right places when the inevitable clash occurs." At that point, Lubbock was just about to open his mouth when Najenda just looked him dead in the eyes where he saw that every bit of anger and frustration that she felt was now replaced by regret, with her voice perfectly matching it.

"Lubba..." She began with a low, slightly somber tone. "please, make no assumptions, I wish Tatsumi could stay, he is still one of the absolute best members we have ever seen and he has grown so much... but there are only so many chances I can give, only so many times that I can trust him. But he's just too vengeful and if this happened any sooner, BEFORE he was taken by Esdeath, I feel that he would've..."

"Wasn't I the same?" cut off Lubbock right as he proceeded to lean in closer, all the while his hand was returning the gentle rubs to Najenda's prosthetic. "Najenda... remember how I reacted when I first found out that Esdeath shattered your arm?" The commander's eyes widened, she could remember that so vividly that it was almost as if it had happened yesterday. She could still recall how before he changed their records to them being "K.I.A", his first plan was to honestly storm into the Capital and as he put it, he would inflict a level of pain that was so horrific on Esdeath that she would be begging for him to let her die. Of course, she eventually was able to convince him to not but she still could recall how his attitude had gone from being carefree and charismatic to vengeful and murderous, not unlike a certain recruit of theirs. Despite this however, Najenda tried to stick to her guns but Lubbock, knowing what she was going to say, already beat her to it.

"I know it was ages ago and that times have changed since then but still, things were nevertheless just as dangerous as they are now. Granted it was a slightly smaller issue but keep in mind, when we first broke from the Empire, just about the entire Capital was looking for us. So much so that had I not changed the records, we NEVER would've been able to approach the Capital again without being hogtied and made into a bleeding example for all to see. Commander, Najenda... all I'm asking is that we wait until after the battle with the Jaegers to make any sort of judgment on Tatsumi and if he's not acting right then... well, guess whose fault it would be for their death." What began to occur within Najenda following the conversation was something that she never would've expected in all her years as a trained soldier. Her heart? Racing like crazy. Her eyes? Constantly dilating and twitching every few seconds. Despite how severe the situation was, she found herself actually being left speechless by someone, one of her own soldiers to be exact and one that she knew she underestimated for the longest of times. The silence that filled the room was almost unbearable, the two being left to just gaze into each others eyes with Najenda's being full of uncertainty and conflict while Lubbock's were filled with worry and a slight hint of hope. Their grips slightly tightening around their hands after what felt like hours on end, Najenda was trying her hardest to get the words out but it was to no avail.

"Lubbock, I... I..." Gazing into her face, the man waited patiently for that answer, his only movements being the occasional taps on his chin. Despite the severity of it all, he could've kept this going for several more minutes if it meant he could continue gazing into his leader's beautiful eye. Waiting for what felt like an eternity, Najenda knew that if what she said wasn't what he had hoped for, he would never let her hear the end of it all and already, she could feel several beads of sweat dropping down her face with her struggle becoming all the more apparent. Finally, after a few more minutes, she was just about to speak when the sound of a door being thrown open threw both her and Lubbock off, causing them to jerk their heads to the side right as they came to the exact same realization. Without any hesitation, the two rushed towards the hallways with Lubbock practically sliding his way in and right then and there, they caught the glimpse of a familiar thin silhouette running away with weapon in hand.

"Shit," Najenda muttered to herself.

"That can't be good," Lubbock began. "Danger Beasts are usually out and about at this time of night." Right then and there, the man began to crouch into position, his Imperial Arms ready to go off. "This should stop him just fi-" Immediately, the man was stopped by the commander setting her arm down onto his shoulder, her face being deadly serious.

"It's too dangerous," She said with her usual stern demeanor. "I've seen what that weapon can do, I don't think Tatsumi would've lasted against it. We need someone else to grab him."

"Why won't you go?" Lubbock asked.

"While I am fully capable, I can't risk Night Raid losing its leader to a random Danger Beast or the First Order, we need someone who has already bared witness... to... them." The two immediately locked gazes with each other, the both of them knowing exactly who to call upon. After a few more seconds of staring and with understanding nods, the two rushed off in the opposite direction and towards the room of a familiar blonde scout.

* * *

( _Undisclosed Forest_ ) _  
_

"Um, may I like ask what we're doing here?" Mez asked in her usual typical teenage girl voice. As usual, she received no answer which granted she was used to since it was almost identical to what Phasma did but at the very least he wasn't as uptight or as annoying as Phasma was but regardless, this one Stormtrooper who only answered to either the designation of FN-2199 or the alias of "Nines" was still incredibly irritating, especially with how the only thing he has done so far is tell her to stay focused on the mission.

"Hello, I'm like talking to you." Mez said, her voice having a slight hint of annoyance and frustration to it. Once again, there was no answer. Not willing to accept defeat, Mez just continued to stare at the trooper in the vain hope that he would eventually respond. Despite how annoying the whole situation was though, Nines overall just did not care in the slightest. Granted he found the girl to be quite bothersome and wished that eventually she would just shut up and continue focusing on the mission but then again, it did remind him a bit of a certain trooper he used to work with back in the days of when he was just a lowly recruit. However, he didn't get exactly the most time to reminisce for the following few seconds, he felt himself nearly tripping up right as his upper torso jerked forward, the sight of which caused the girl let out a small chuckle with Nines on the other hand, being less than pleased and despite the helmet blocking his face, Mez could already tell that he was giving her the sharpest of glares as she quickly pulled her hand away from his back.

"What the-"

"Just seeing if you're listening." She cut off with a smirk and after letting out a small chuckle. "Now that I have your attention, can you please remind me exactly what we're doing here?" Seeing that this might be his only way of shutting her up, the trooper caved.

"We're making a small perimeter check," He began. "we've been getting reports of activity within the woods by a few search parties and if the blood and cracked armor was of any indication, we have to make sure that the area is safe enough to expand into and so far, everything seems to be in the all-clear." Immediately, the girl set her hands down by her hips.

"That's like, only half of what I want to hear, what I mean is why exactly are we the only two out here?" She questioned. After a small bout of grumbling, Nines just continued onward.

"Apparently Phasma can't seem to deal with you and since I am one of the most strict with my squadrons, maybe she felt I was the better fit." Soon after, Mez just scoffed.

"Oh please," She began. "that blinged out bitch just doesn't know how to let loose." Immediately, Nines shot the warrior the absolute harshest of glares and despite wearing a helmet that blocked his face, she still could feel the intensity.

"Talk about my commanding officer like that again, I'll splatter your brains against one of these trees."

"Pfft, you wish." responded Mez as she set her arms behind her head. "Your commanding officers wouldn't allow that news to come back now would they?"

"Actually, my history would beg to differ." Nines replied, catching the girl's interest.

"Really? They just let you kill random troopers if they're having fun?" The trooper shook his head.

"What you consider 'having fun' is what people like me and Phasma consider laziness and purposeful defying of orders and as we were taught, anyone who continues this excessively will be shot dead without hesitation." Despite how frightening the idea sounded, Mez just let out a mocking chuckle.

"Sounds like you have a pretty shitty work ethic." She commented, causing FN-2199 to shift his gaze towards her once more.

"Sounds like you've never been disciplined."

"Yeah right," She said with a scoff. "you would be singing a completely different tune if you saw me in battle or my training, we were given a LOT of discipline."

"Is that so? Well then, I take it back," He began. "you just don't have ENOUGH discipline."

"It doesn't matter, I can still kick ass." Feeling slightly bored and very annoyed, the trooper slowly unsheathed his stun baton and began to lightly twirl the inactivate weapon around all while he continued his chat.

"In my book, it doesn't matter how good you are in a fight, if you don't respect your commanding officer and continuously bite their hand which has fed you many times before, you're just trash like the rest of them." Right then and there, the girl's face flared up with anger.

"Excuse me?" She began.

"You heard me right, if you spent more time practicing on respecting your commanding officer, maybe you wouldn't be such a useless heel to me."

"Useless?! Listen here buckethead, I can easily send your ass flying into one of these trees so you better show ME the respect you piece of sh-AGGH!"

"That's your first lesson, always know when to shut up." With that said, Nines began to calmly dust off his baton with his movement not stopping, leaving Mez just a few feet behind him with hands rubbing her injured stomach. A few moments later, she finally straightened herself out.

"You're a dick you know th-" Right before she could finish, Nines immediately threw up his hand which she recognized as the signal for her to silence herself. A few moments later, the trooper used another gesture that signaled for her to get low which she surprisingly obeyed without any issue. With the two in position, Nines lead them slowly but steadily through the forest with the only sounds that were heard being both the cracking of branches and leaves, the pair's low breaths and the slight clinking of armor as the binoculars were wriggled free from Nines's belt. Of course, deep down inside Mez wanted to get back at the trooper but she knew damn well that it both wasn't the time and that this could potentially lead to their deaths so she kept quiet. As a nice bonus on the other hand, she was able to actually gain a full appreciation for how beautiful the forest was at this time of night. The way the trees cast a shadow under the light of the moon, the way the leaves were lit up with a slight hint of blue and overall, just the starry night sky alone was enough to get her gazing out with amazement. Sometimes though, she would get a bit too caught up in that to the point where Nines had to roughly tug her along which he did probably about three or four times. Finally, after what seemed like hours of walking, the two stopped and in their gaze was a small wooden cabin, one that looked very, VERY close to one of the many homes Nines saw back on Jakku with the only difference being quite obvious.

"What do you see?" Mez asked as Nines continued to stare through his binoculars and sure enough, he finally got a decent view of them. There were three "living" beings though really, they looked as if someone had draped giant grey bags over walking piles of muscle and called it a day. Despite that, in all his years of being a part of the First Order, not once had that trooper ever seen anything quite like it and when he noticed how some had on small pieces of armor and a little bit of hair, it made him think back to the infamous urban legend about how the Empire commissioned a bio-weapon that ended up being unleashed on an entire Star Destroyer crew and how that ship had been left floating as a derelict ever since with many saying the creatures looked as if they were bags of flesh which these monsters fit the description of so perfectly. However, that was not what he was focusing on completely since what he mainly had his eyes on was a human corpse, a male to be exact, that was currently having its intestines devoured down on the hard ground and while that was already quite the disturbing sight, it was definitely not enough to phase the trooper who had seen far worse on several missions and simulations.

Yet that was once again a part that he didn't pay much attention to since in just a few moments, a loud scream sounded off, causing him to immediately shift his gaze towards the cabin and right there he saw an innocent woman clearing out her lungs with her screeches of terror which usually he wouldn't pay attention to but what caught his eye was the very obvious protrusion in her midsection and right then and there, he knew exactly what the reason for that was.

"Heh, poor bastards." Mez commented right as she stood up and began to turn the other direction. "Better them than us am I right?" Giving no response, the trooper began to slowly look down towards his stun baton and began to recall a message that Hux and Phasma had repeated to him many times before.

"Any young one you can keep alive, regardless of if they're in the womb or not, is better than to waste a possible future soldier." At that moment, the trooper began to slowly look back towards the cabin and right then and there, the face under the helmet lit up with determination which he wasn't shaken from for one bit, despite the questioning hand on his shoulder.

"Don't tell me you're actually thinking of going down there," Mez began. "leave them, it's not worth it." Still silent as ever, Nines took one step forward, all while brushing the girl's hand away.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?!" She called. "There is no way you're surviving this!" Immediately, the monsters stopped and began to turn towards the trooper with heads cocked to the side out of curiosity. Silence filled the air as the two different beings continued to stare at one another, almost like it was a stand-off with Mez just standing close behind, gawking at the scene for she felt that there was only one way that this could end and even with all that had transpired with Sten beforehand, even this was too horrific to think about. As if her stare had finally gotten through, Nines slowly turned his head towards Mez and signaled for her to stand with him to which she responded with a small shake of her head. Frustrated, the trooper made a few small gestures to her which mainly involved the blaster holstered on his hip. Realizing what that meant, she stood there for a few more seconds before finally moving to stand right alongside the loyal soldier.

"I hate you." She whispered though he ignored it. The gazes were intense and unflinching, the only movement being the beasts seemingly licking their lips at the meal that was presented before them. Despite this, the trooper's composure was not lost for even one second, rather he seemed... excited at the prospect of fighting these beasts.

"This reminds me of that raid we performed on Jabba's abandoned palace and the Gamorreans we fought there." The man thought as drew his baton, the weapon whirring to life the moment he flicked it outward. Slowly, the trooper began to make his way down when he caught Mez trying to slowly back away. With a quick jerk of his arm, Nines pulled the girl towards him and gave her a deathly glare.

"Do that again and I'll put you six feet under, got that?" He growled. The girl simply nodded as the two continued to make their way towards the beasts. Meanwhile, it was throughout the whole ordeal that the pregnant woman was continuously backing her way against the wall out of pure, uncontrolled fear, to the point where she swore that she might just lose all control of her bladder right then and there. After a little bit of uncontrolled shaking, she felt as the counter started to hobble and wobble for a few moments, causing the single glass jar that was present to do the same and as her luck would have it, the small object teetered just a bit too far towards the edge and fell, shattering into a million shards the moment it hit the ground which unfortunately caught the attention of the two very hungry monsters.

"Now." Nines uttered right before he proceeded to run straight towards the beast with Mez only noticing just a few seconds too late.

"Now wait a second, what was the pl-" In just under a split-second, the girl IMMEDIATELY rolled out of the way of the two Danger Beasts that came her way. Realizing this was no time to talk, Mez just straightened herself out and got into the fight. Back in the home, the pregnant woman just watched with pure fright in her eyes as the armor-clad stranger hung on to the monster's shoulders with the latter trying their hardest to shake him free, causing his body to slam against several walls in the process. Despite the slight shock of pain, the trooper was still feeling incredibly energized and determined to bring the beast down and so his grip was not letting up. After a little while longer, Nines felt he had just about enough of this rodeo and reached down for his hip, where he drew his blaster rifle and once he had it situated, he fired straight into the monster's eyes, causing it to howl in pain.

"I have you now." Nines thought to himself as he lowered from the monster's back. Wasting no time once his feet were back on the ground, the trooper gave his baton a mighty swing and sent the electrified piece crashing straight into the beast's face, the force of which caused several teeth and drops of blood to scatter out. Without hesitation, he followed up on this blow with a mighty swing at the knees, causing the monster to drop down in pain as the bones shattered into millions of pieces. Taking his chance, Nines immediately reached for what looked to be a small handle on his back and drew out a small cylinder, a cylinder that had frightened many Resistance soldiers, citizens and pirates alike and with that small tool, he twisted the top and shoved it straight down the monster's gaping maw before proceeding to send the worthless body flying with his weapon, sending it on a collision course with Mez who was currently fighting off the other two monsters.

"Oh shit." She muttered once she heard the beeping and with that, she immediately and without warning, dropkicked the two others into their "friend" before proceeding to take off running for a nearby tree. With just his arm slightly raised the keep himself from being blinded, the trooper watched with glee as the ferocious beasts went from being alive and kicking to several bloody meat chunks from the explosion that went off from underneath them with the blood that was sent from it being splattered all over Mez, covering every inch of her tanned flesh and clothes in red which certainly did NOT brighten her day.

"You asshole!" She called out angrily right as she proceeded to storm towards him. "You could've given me a warning first!"

"You'll live." Nines replied dryly, turning towards the cowering woman in the back as he proceeded to sheathe his weapons and judging by the gaping mouth, the wide-open eyes and the shaking pointing finger that she knew.

"Y-Y-Y-You're w-w-wi-"

"With the First Order?" Nines finished. The woman just continued to stare at him.

"Y-Y-You're not goi-going to..." Immediately, the trooper dropped down to one knee and looked her straight in the eye.

"If you are willing to cooperate, no harm will come to you." He began. "Just do as I say and everything will be just fine." The woman then began to frantically dart her eyes across the room, searching for anything she possibly could use to fight back but it was to no avail. A few moments later, she felt her finger run across something smooth and cold, a feeling that couldn't have come to her at ANY better time, now all she needed to do was just keep him talking.

"Y-Yes," Began the woman, her fingers slowly easing the knife towards her. "W-What is i-i-it that you ask of me?" In his gut, the trooper could very much tell that something wasn't right here, a feeling that he admit, has been present for the longest of times now ever since FN-2187 defected from the First Order all those days ago so in case it was his paranoia acting up, he decided to just keep going.

"First off, we're looking for two girls who have been known to patrol the area, have you seen them?" The woman just shook her head which incited a small curse from Nines just a few moments later.

"Well then..." He began. "I guess I'll move onto the next which i-" His instincts kicking in, the trooper immediately thrust his arm out and grabbed the woman's wrist just as the knife was inches from his helmet, his gaze not leaving her face throughout the whole experience. If she wasn't terrified before, she certainly was now since despite how average the soldier looked, his grip was as solid as ever with how her hand was not even shaking an inch from the pressure. Saying nothing, the woman just looked on in fear as the trooper leaned towards her, close enough to where she could feel the heat of his face radiating off of him.

"Let's try that again, shall we?" He said in a low sinister voice. "You don't want me to leave you out here for dead do you?" The woman began to slowly shake her head from side-to-side which Nines took as her agreeing to stay put and so, he began again.

"Now initially I was going to ask but now, after that little stunt you pulled, I'm demanding. Once your infant is born, you are to give it to the First Order, if you refuse, just know that only death will come your way."

"You wouldn't dare!" The woman called, her eyes widening. Slowly and without any hesitation, the trooper drew his blaster from his hip and had the barrel lightly pressing against her chest.

"I'm daring." The trooper said with a dark sense of humor. "Now are you going to comply or am I going to have to put you down?" At that point, the woman felt that she would've had better luck with the monsters since for the first time in all her life, she was forced into a situation where neither option was beneficial to her. If she agreed to it, she would be forced to stand by and watch as her child, another human being that she herself gave life to would only live to serve an evil band of dictators and would be molded into someone far more monstrous than she possibly could've imagined but if she declined, both her and the child would die and there would be nothing she could do to stop it. She pondered over her decisions carefully, making sure that whatever she went with would not leave her filled with regret with the trooper waiting patiently. Finally, after a good couple of minutes, she looked up at the trooper and took a deep breath but instead of a willing face, Nines saw a woman filled with anger.

"I would rather be tossed off a cliff in a burning bag while squirrels and other tiny creatures gnaw away at my flesh than have a monster like you, turn my child into nothing but a kill-" The woman was cut off a few seconds later, the sound of her voice not fading out but rather, it abruptly paused like she had just fallen asleep mid-sentence. With his grip still on her arm, the trooper watched and felt as her pulse slipped away into nothingness and after about a minute, he released his hold on her, watching as the knife dropped to the ground right at the same time as her body slumped against the back-wall.

"So be it." He said as he began to raise back up onto his feet. Taking just a few more seconds to look at the corpse, he then turned towards the exit and proceeded to walk out with Mez following close behind, her face showing pure shock and awe at what he did as one thought filled her mind.

"If this is how the First Order treats every person who defies their rule..." At that moment, Mez looked down towards her open palm, taking a brief few seconds to take in the fact that her comrades are no longer having to serve under Bolic and how instead, they're nothing but slaves to tyrants like the one she saw before her. After a few more minutes, she looked up towards the trooper and completed her thought.

"Then I'm going to be in huge trouble later on." With that said, the two moved on into the night, all while a lavender haired man, the same man who watched over Kurome and Wave, was silently cursing to himself.

* * *

 _Author's Addendum:_

 **Just to be clear here, I'm terribly sorry CC if this does... upset you. I understand you wanted to see the First Order rescue this pregnant woman and... well... I just found I couldn't do it or at least, I couldn't do it in the way you wanted and if you're wondering why, it's because quite frankly, there was just no way I could do this without making the First Order come off as being OOC, there was just NO way I could do this without undermining the whole point of this story when it comes to the First Order and that is this.**

 **They are NOT intended to be sympathetic in any way, shape or form. They are quite literally the NAZIS of the Star Wars universe. You don't agree with their methods? Prepare to be ruthlessly tortured or killed right on the spot. There was just no spot I saw in that where they could save a pregnant woman and after seeing the film a fifth time... that was just confirmed upon the fifth viewing.  
**

 **So what can I say other than I'm extremely sorry if this does upset you. Hopefully this will not take away from your enjoyment of the story and that you understand why I did this. Thank you all for reading.**


	6. Chapter 6

( _Undisclosed Forest_ )

"Who said anything about sending him off?" That one sentence, that one blasted sentence was constantly playing through Tatsumi's mind without a hitch, almost as if it was a CD on repeat and with every passing second and every replay, he found himself hating it more and more as he continued to run through the several trees and bushes.

"How could they?" His mind began. "Am I really that horrible to them? Even after all I did they're going to toss me out like that?!" After every twenty steps or so, the boy would quickly jerk his head to the side to see how far he was from the base with every tiny piece he saw of it, no matter how blurred or how tiny it was in the distance, serving only as a means of pushing him to keep going further. His legs were sore and tense, he could feel his muscles pulsating from beneath his skin, begging and pleading for him to give it a rest but he stubbornly refused all of it.

"I thought things would be different." He mentally thought. "I thought this would honestly be my chance to avenge my friends and do something good for the world and what did I get? A bunch of murderers who didn't have what it took to be hu-" Tatsumi at long last halted his run, his body nearly collapsing to the ground right as he came to that complete stop. Right then and there, his brain then began to scour over a few pieces that directly contradicted his current thought, pieces that revolved around two certain individuals, one with pink hair and another with black and right then and there, he let out a frustrated sigh right as the image of Mine's tearful face after having retrieved Sheele's weapon came to mind as well as one of him being pushed against a wall by Akame right as a sorrowful voice began to play itself back.

"No matter how many times I see my friends fall, I will NEVER get used to this! But these emotions you see here would affect the next mission and the one after that. That's why I act so calm about it all!" At that moment, Tatsumi couldn't help but look down at the ground and let out a long sigh that was full of both frustration and regret right as one other voice came rushing through his head.

"You don't care about that! You said it yourself, 'any of us could die at anytime.', meaning that I shouldn't get attached well I'm sorry that I'm an actual HUMAN with real emotions and is not afraid to put them out on display! Unlike you Chelsea, who just looks back on them like they're trash! Or how about you Mine, you show emotion one moment and then you want to just focus on the mission?! Tell me, do you think Sheele would've wanted that?!" Even if several years had passed, deep down Tatsumi knew that this memory would always be there, reminding him, haunting him and no matter how many times he would try to forget it, it would always find a way to come back. By far out of all the times he had gotten angry, this one was easily the worst with the most likely cause of that being the reactions he caught around the room.

Even if he couldn't see it, he still could feel tears beginning to build up whenever he thought of Mine's shocked expression, a tell-tale sign of just how much he had hurt her, Najenda's cold glare, Lubbock's wide eyes with his hand covering his mouth and finally, there was Akame, breaking the trend of her usual cold blank stares with a look that was full of concern and from his experience, if her expression ever changed just like that, he automatically knew that something was up and in this case, that something was him and he had to admit, just that thought alone and the pain it inflicted was the worst he had ever felt. Even worse than being sliced with a sword.

Standing there with this in mind, Tatsumi's left hand slowly began to tighten its grip around his sword and his teeth began to grit right as he slowly closed his eyes, finally setting free a single tear that came trickling down his face. He remained like that for a good couple of minutes before finally proceeding to look up into the sky and straight into the moon, the ominous white orb acting as his only real form of comfort.

"Mayb-maybe they're right about me," He mentally began. "I've said that I would switch gears and fight, I know that sobbing isn't going to bring my friends back... but now, what good will that do? I lost my village, my friends, I've lost everything. What good is someone like me if I got nothing to fight for?" Before he could ponder over that thought any longer, the sound of a cracking tree branch in the distance snapped him out of it and he immediately shifted his gaze towards the trees and almost immediately, he began to hear faint voices.

"What the hell?" He quietly said to himself. "There are others out and about? Don't they know this is dangerous?" With that, the boy began to quietly ponder to himself on this very subject, his hand lightly rubbing his chin. After a few minutes, it felt as though it was nothing to worry about when suddenly, his face tensed up right as one thought filled his mind, the thought of soldiers in white stomping down his village, murdering everyone in their path. Wasting no time, Tatsumi with sword in hand began to rush towards the noise, the thought of revenge filling his heart and mind.

 _Meanwhile..._

It had been a little while since FN-2199 "saved" that one woman and far longer since Sten's demise at the hands of Kylo Ren. Overall, if Mez wasn't concerned about her safety with the First Order, she was most DEFINITELY convinced now as even with all the people she had murdered in the past with her colleagues, nothing could compare to the sheer unflinching brutality that the First Order possessed... and much to her possible fright or delight, she was absolutely loving it. The two of them had been walking in silence for a good couple of minutes and finally, it was Mez who broke it.

"I still can't believe you did that." She said. "I thought kidnapping children was like your thi-"

"Kidnapping those who can be indoctrinated is what the First Order seeks." Nines interjected. "That woman was just going to be a traitor." At that moment, Mez set her hands on her hips and looked towards the trooper with a smirk.

"From what I've heard from Phasma, you've had a history with traitors, is that correct?"

"That information is on a 'need to know' basis." Nines responded. "You want to learn it? EARN my trust."

"Really, you can't even spare a little bit?" The trooper just shook his head. Immediately, the girl set her hand on her chin and began to stroke it before finally setting upon one option that wasn't exactly... elegant but it would do.

"Would you be willing to spare it if..." Nines quickly shot her a glare right as her hand touched his chest.

"Are you seriously suggesting that I would lower myself to sexual contact just so you can learn about my history? That's just disgusting." Feeling her face flare up with both embarrassment and anger, Mez shot him a glare of her own.

"DISGUSTING!? Why you little, you bett-OW!"

"Watch yourself? That better applies to you than it does me." Nines said right as he sheathed his baton, leaving Mez to once again rub her stomach in pain, finally realizing that this was a fool's errand. After a little bit of silence, she changed the subject.

"Do any of you troopers have a name?" She asked, causing Nines to look at her with a cocked head. "If you do have one I mean." The trooper just kept his gaze locked on her and despite not being able to view his eyes, she could feel her frustration piling up. "Oh come on! Don't tell me that's classified t-"

"It isn't," He interjected. "my trooper designation is FN-2199 though some have gotten accustomed to calling me 'Nines'."

"Really, Nines? You mean like, the number?" Mez asked, trying her hardest not to bust out laughing. "Are there any other names that are less embarrassing than that?" In response, the trooper just shook his head.

"There was only one other nickname I obtained from my comrades and one that I'm... not at all proud of." With just that one sentence, Mez's imagination immediately went to scouring through EVERY possible option with every thought she found being more hilarious than the last.

"What was that name?" She began. "Powderman? Robocop?"

"TR-8R." Nines spat out, his voice showing clear distaste. Crossing her arms in disappointment, Mez cocked her head to the side.

"Wait, come again?"

"You heard me." He began. "TR-8R was a nickname MOST recruits gave me."

"Really? You're upset that someone gave you a nickname that's pronounced as..."

"Traitor?" He cut off. "Actually yes, yes I am upset with that."

"Why would you be?" She asked. "What makes TR-8R so bad but Nines, a name just as goofy, good?"

"It's not necessarily the name that gets to me, it's the reasoning behind it." He began. "Whenever I go into training regiments with other troopers, I try to make it clear to them that they should always and I mean ALWAYS remain loyal to the First Order and that they will live and die with it."

"And what brought about the nickname?" Mez asked. At that moment, Nines took in a long and hard breath, reveling in the fresh air before proceeding.

"A lot of the younger, more immature recruits say that apparently, with how devoted my life is to the First Order, my trooper ID should be changed to TR-8R because I clearly am just going to betray them all in a few days time."

"So basically, kind of like how some soldiers try to act casual when in reality, they are only giving away their position?" Nines cocked an eyebrow, his interest clearly peaked as he turned toward her.

"Your team had a history with people like that?" Smirking, Mez backed up a little.

"I thought you said info like that is on a 'need to know' basis?" She asked smugly.

"That applies only to my line of work." Mez immediately shook her head.

"Well I'm not telling you until you tell me."

"Then I guess you'll have to remain silent. It's not info I need to know anyway." Nines said right as he shifted his gaze back towards the front, leaving Mez with arms behind her head and her smug grin.

"He'll come back around." She thought. "It'll be any minute now." And so she waited, and waited, and waited... and waited. She waited for a grand total of what she assumed to be several hours but in reality, it was just a few minutes and Nines was still not willing to give up his info. Feeling defeated, she let out a frustrated sigh.

"Alright, alright, you got me." She began. "Back when I was still training with my buddies, we used to see several young guys coming and going and let me tell you, if you and Phasma have a problem with how I act then you would've wanted to BUTCHER these little shits for they were just the worst, especially when they saw me, they came up with all kinds of nicknames and most of them weren't even creative."

"Like what?" Nines asked, his head cocked to the side. Playfully, the tan woman brought one hand up to her chin and another up to at least chest level and with her fingers, she began to count off all the various phrases.

"Let's see... they called me 'Beach Gal', 'Tan Babe', 'Bikini Mistress', 'Teenage Terror', 'Big Tits'..." Nines's head jerked slightly.

"Wait, what was that last one?"

"Big Tits?" She said questioningly. "You're a guy who has murdered countless amounts of people, one who has raided HUNDREDS of villages and has probably heard every insult and nickname in the book and yet 'Big Tits' is the one that surprises you?" Nines just gave her a nod.

"Um, yes," He began. "yes it does surprise me." Realizing she had the trooper actually flustered a slight bit, she couldn't help but let out a loud laugh, one that was SO unbelievably ear-grating that the trooper was surprised she didn't attract every bit of wildlife to the area.

"HA! HA! HA! HA! Don't tell me you're honestly THAT foreign to jokes like that! HA! HA!" In the back of his mind, Nines knew of more than one trooper that used to act like this... and he couldn't ever remember if there was one who lived. In the First Order, all recruits were required to follow by the exact same set of strict guidelines, which were all set in place after a belief began to catch steam. The belief went that the Empire had some of the poorest training outposts available back in the old days of when they first started to remove clones from their ranks which in turn, became one of the causes for their defeat back on Endor and later, Jakku. Despite it being nothing but a theory, with the sad state of affairs that was the Empire's upper management at the time, a complete overhaul of training regiments was deemed LONG overdue and one of the new rules that was implemented was one that Nines had memorized word for word.

"Regardless of how useful they could be, repeated offenses of disrespect and disorder shall and will be met with severe repercussions which especially includes torture and/or death." His mind played back, the words of Phasma and Hux echoing through his head like an old recorder. At that point, it seemed painfully obvious what his brain and gut were trying to tell him. Mez was, for lack of a better term, a vapid, bothersome, worthless bimbo that would be better off being chucked in a garbage chute with the rest of the load rather than being a member of the First Order. He knew it, Phasma knew it and hell, he wouldn't doubt that Hux and Kylo would probably agree with it. Yet, there was just something about her that just interested him too much and this was in spite of all the times he commanded her to silence herself or when he hit her with the baton and surprisingly enough, it seemed that she knew it as well.

"Hey Nines, can I ask you something?" She inquired, the final few chuckles from her fit finally fading.

"Most likely it's something I won't care about but whatever, go for it." He responded. The girl began to fidget in place for a few moments, almost as if she was actually unsure of whether or not she should speak. After a few seconds though, she finally got it out.

"I know you dislike me, possibly it has even evolved to the point of hatred but I just have to ask. Why is it that you still have me aro-" The trooper immediately threw up a hand gesture, signaling for her to shut her trap which she certainly was not happy with, evidenced by the way she set her hands on her hips.

"The Danger Beasts are done dude." She began. "What is it that you're so worried about?"

"It's simple..." A slightly high chilling voice said, way too clear to be Nines due to the lack of radio feedback or crackling. Feeling a little uneasy, Mez began to slowly back up, the only sounds being both the rustling of trees and the sound of a blaster and baton charging up. After a few minutes, the blonde was positively frightened, the voice sounded... familiar to her but she couldn't exactly pinpoint who it was or what location it was from. Her heart was beating against her chest at an increasingly faster pace every couple of seconds, the same went for the beads of sweat trickling down her face. After a few more minutes, it seemed that all sound drained from the world which both frightened and confused Mez even more... only for her to come to the startling realization once a pair of masculine hands wrapped around her throat right as the reply finished up.

"He's worrying about me!" With reflexes that would make a certain green and red bounty hunter proud, Nines did a complete 360 turn and unloaded a quick warning shot that went right into the man's hand, causing him to grasp it in pain which left the blonde with just enough time to escape.

"Well aren't you quite the shot." The man commented rather mockingly, all while rubbing the small burn mark. "Can't you learn how to take a joke?"

"You're the one who unloaded those beasts, aren't you?" Nines questioned, the man seeming to show a small hint of surprise as he nodded.

"Bravo! You found that out fast, I take it you've dealt with people like me before?"

"Several" Nines responded, his weapon still centered on the man. "and you are?"

"Oh how rude of me!" The man began, his hand lightly patting his chin before he proceeded to bow. "My name is Syura, son of the wonderfully demented prime minister Honest!" The way he could be so full of himself and so mocking was almost enough to make the trooper vomit though it was his next move that ESPECIALLY made that idea appealing when he started to eye Mez. "And my, my, you brought me a gift stranger? Oh you really shouldn't have, the hoes I pick off the street do good enough. Though she is cute I will give you that, maybe Champ would like to have a little... playtime with her." In a move full of rage, Mez immediately stomped her foot down in disgust.

"That nasty ass clown will do NO such thing to m-" Before the trooper knew it, the man disappeared right before his very eyes and it wasn't just a matter of he blinked or looked away for too long, Syura literally just disappeared in almost an instant ONLY to reappear a few moments later just a bit too close for comfort with his hands on the blonde's breasts.

"Careful now sweetie," He began with a sinister voice. "you don't want to see how I get when I'm m-ACK!" In a move that filled Mez with a sense of joy and relief, she watched as Nines delivered some five-fingered justice straight to Syura's face, causing a small bit of blood to splatter against the ground. Before he could get react, the trooper immediately followed up this strike with a brutal swing to the stomach from his baton, the force of which caused his ribs to make a subtle "CRACK!" that became music to the trooper's ears.

"And you don't want to see me when I'm angry." Nines replied coldly, the only response from the man being a sick twisted grin.

"Quite a lucky shot I would say," He began as he proceeded to wipe the blood from his mouth. "But it's not enough to bring me down."

"Doesn't matter." Nines responded right as he dropped his blaster. "After all, I've dealt with fools like you before."

"Oh really?" He began. "Well I'm sure I must offer some variety, after all this is the first and last time you'll ever get to face a man who can bend time and space at will."

"Fancy tricks and theatrics will never replace skill." Nines said with a scoff. "It doesn't matter how many times they say they have something unique about them, they all fall just the same."

"Oh my," Syura began with a chuckle. "we've got quite the badass over here. Tell me my friend, has that overconfidence ever got you into REAL trouble?"

"Funny, I was thinking of asking you the same question." Banter like this continued on for what seemed like an eternity and throughout the whole experience, all three parties failed to notice a certain pair of green eyes staring straight at them, eyes that were filled with burning fury, eyes that were filled with remorse, eyes that when one looked into them, they could clearly see the burning soul of revenge. Gripping their sword tightly, the figure continued to glare at them.

"It's him," Tatsumi thought to himself. "it's exactly as Leone described, these are the ones that killed my family and from the looks of it. I don't recognize the other two but my heart pounds just as much at the sight of them as it does the trooper." His fist tightening to the point where if it weren't for his gloves, his nails would be digging into his flesh, the boy then looked down towards his sword, contemplating on whether or not activating his weapon would be necessary. However, he had no time for that since a few seconds later, his gaze locked with the tan man's whose smirk just radiated evil.

"Are you sure you want to start this party now?" Syura began. "Because it looks like we have another guest." Almost immediately but without taking his guard down, the trooper shifted his gaze behind him and sure enough, he saw the pair of green eyes peeking out ever so discretely from behind the trees. Realizing there was nowhere to go, the boy let out just one simple grunt.

"Oh shit." Soon after he let it out, Syura's smirk grew into a full blown grin as he began to cup his hands over his mouth.

"Come on out boy! There's nothing to be afraid of!" He shouted, the sarcasm being oh so obvious towards the end. After a quick signaling for Mez to keep watch on Syura, Nines began to slowly make his way towards the boy.

"State your business," He began. "if you have any that is because if not, move along, this is not the time to be out and about."

"That voice." Tatsumi thought to himself. "It's exactly as Leone described back home. I..." At that moment, the boy, for lack of a better term, just... lost everything. Feeling his rage get the better of him, he stood up straight and began to walk towards the trooper with several dried leaves being crushed with every step he took.

"My name is Tatsumi," The boy began with the best booming bout of anger he could manage. "you destroyed my village, killed my family and ruined the life I once knew and loved." Nines watched as this young, almost teenage looking warrior proceeded to spread his legs and lower his sword to the side, clearly ready to rip him apart.

"Prepare to die." Despite the threat, the trooper couldn't help but repeat the name many times in his head along with the order he received by Kylo before he went off on this mission.

"If you ever come across this Tatsumi, take him alive, I feel he may prove to be most useful to us." The dark voice reminded him, its tone having a slightly ethereal sounding to it, almost as if it was coming to him directly from the Force itself. Taking a moment to look around him, he couldn't help but feel this sense of excitement beginning to trickle in just at the sheer thought of what he was doing. One of their goals was finally on the road to being achieved with Tatsumi's presence but not only that, he just so happened to walk right into a possible link who may know of the girls they're looking for. Staring into Tatsumi's hate-filled eyes he couldn't help but let his lips develop into a small smirk.

"I think you'll find boy that actually, I won't be dying tonight and instead..." Right then and there, the trooper jerked his foot to the back right as he flicked his baton to the side. "you'll be our guest." Right then and there, Nines spun his baton around in a move very similar to his duel back on Takodana to the point where the weapon stopped at exactly the same spot towards his abdomen. Feeling insulted, Tatsumi's face began to light up with so much more ferocity with his glare becoming noticeably sharper and his teeth beginning to grit all the while Nines remained perfectly calm all throughout which surprised Mez who had her head turned to watch. Smirking at this display, Syura wasted no time and got into his own fighting stance right as he let out a small chuckle.

"Well, I guess now that the two boys are occupied," He began, causing Mez's gaze to snap towards him. "it just leaves us. So what do you say my sweet, shall we embark on this dance?" Despite the clear creepy aura he possessed, Mez began to think back to her previous commander Bolic and recalled how the two of them acted alike to the point of it being rather horrifying. Shaking this thought free, Mez just looked Syura, who had one arm outstretched almost as if he was handing out an invitation, straight in the eyes and gave him a harsh glare followed up by an agreeing nod.

"If it means that I won't have to look at your ugly face anymore then by all means I'm ready." In response, the man's demeanor changed in a record time with his face going from sadistic grin to burning hatred while his hands balled up into tight fists.

"Ugly?" He growled. "Why you little BITCH!" Right then and there, the two charged at each other with fists held up and ready to strike. Seeing their chance, Tatsumi and Nines soon followed suit with their weapons drawn back before they proceeded to collide with one epic "CLANG!" sounding off right as the two met before devolving into a series of parries, blocks and swings that also wasn't unlike the battle of Takodana since it wasn't just the motions that were similar but the motives as well.

Unlike the honorable Jedi of the past, Tatsumi was aiming purely to kill.

* * *

( _Village Remains_ )

For the first time in all her life, in all the years she had spent eating, breathing and killing, in all the years she had spent committing various atrocities, Esdeath had found herself in a position that she had never thought she would be in from the very moment she joined with the Empire and it was these village searches she had to thank for that.

She was completely and utterly bored and sick of seeing carnage. Of course, that wasn't to say she didn't enjoy it still. Far from it in fact. From the five or so that the Jaegers and her have investigated so far, the ways that the First Order completely decimated everything was nothing short of eye-candy in that there was never exactly one corpse with the exact same injuries or homes that were completely raided and empty, seeing the sights and hearing the sounds of smoldering rubble and the gurgles of fresh blood that happened to still be flowing in some of the bodies was almost like an early Christmas for her. However, it was the fact that this destruction was leading to NOWHERE that made her sick of seeing everything. All the time she spent in those villages, she prayed and begged to the gods up above to just give her something, ANYTHING that would actually be useful. A survivor or two she could interrogate, a leftover weapon or corpse from at least one First Order trooper so she knew what to look for, all she wanted was just a single sign but as her luck would have it, nothing was making itself available and by the time they reached this one, she just about had it.

"I swear if at least one piece doesn't present itself soon, I am going to GUT Honest for wasting my time." She angrily thought right as she pushed another corpse to the side. However, it wasn't just the lack of evidence that became a recurring theme and this one had nothing to do with the carnage around them but rather it was her own team and most notably, Kurome and Wave who currently had his arm wrapped around the former, much to her frustration.

"Wave, relax I'm fine." Kurome said, her voice still slightly shaky from moments ago. Silently refusing it with a shake of his head, Wave continued to remain as close to Kurome as he possibly could as he continued to look around at the carnage with every corpse he skimmed over beginning to freak him out more and more.

"This looks like it was hit by every disaster imaginable." He thought to himself. "If they wanted to make a first impression well they've certainly made a damn interesting one." Taking a breather from his examination duties, the boy took a moment to glance at his friend and took note of how while she clearly was doing better, the look in her eyes made it clear that the feelings from before were still there otherwise.

"Whatever the hell that man did to you, I promise it will never happen again." Deciding he needed to take his mind off it all, the swordsman turned towards a familiar masked comrade.

"Hey Bols, what are you making of this?" Wave questioned, his voice showing slight signs of fright. However, the brute just remained silent, even after a few minutes had passed which convinced the boy to try again.

"Bols, what are you making of this?" He asked at a slightly louder volume, again no answer was heard.

"Bols?!" He yelled after another few minutes. Again, there was no answer with the man just continuing to examine his territory.

"I see now..." He began mentally. "all those times I've killed, all those times I've pillaged, murdered and set people aflame, they all PALE in comparison to what happened here." Shutting his eyes for a brief moment, he began to think back to what Wave said about him, about how he didn't care that he was a merciless killer beforehand, about how he felt that even someone like him could actually redeem themselves. With that thought, the man couldn't help but give a small smirk.

"You know, I may not have understood you back then but honestly, I have to admit, I think I'm starting to get it." He continued to linger on this one thought for a few more moments when suddenly, he heard what sounded like a battle-cry in the distance, one that even Esdeath seemed to hear and even recognize since she immediately stopped and jerked her head towards the side.

"Tatsumi?" She questioned out loud. Her "response" only being what sounded like an insult but it was too far away and faint to even make it out. Despite that however, she could feel her mind beginning to race through several different options and outcomes... all of them sounding particularly satisfying to her. With this thought not able to be shaken, the ice queen turned towards her crew with a raised hand, signaling for them to stop.

"Keep searching the area," She began. "there's something I need to deal with." Everyone immediately nodded in agreement, all except for Wave who stared at her with a face full of concern.

"With all due respect ma'am," He began. "wouldn't it be wiser to stay with us? We need someone like you to assist against the First Ord-"

"Are you questioning my authority?" Esdeath cut off coldly, her glare cutting deep into the boy's soul which caused him to quickly shake his head.

"N-N-No ma'am, wh-why would you think that? I'm just aski-"

"You will do as I say," She responded before proceeding to begin her walk a few seconds later. "that is, unless you'd rather be personally executed by me." With there being no way out of it, the boy just swallowed his fear and gave the commander quite possibly the shakiest salute that she had ever seen in her entire life or at least, one shaky enough to where if it weren't for the fact that it was Wave, she possibly would've killed the person right there for making such an embarrassment of themselves. Regardless, she continued onward and once her long blue hair completely disappeared into the woods, leaving Wave to his thoughts.

"Some day, I feel that woman is going to be the death of me." He mentally began. "I mean, we're practically free targets now for the First Order, we're easy pickings and considering we're wandering through their 'work', something tells me they might show up any time now." A few minutes later, the group heard a loud commanding voice.

"HALT!" The group immediately froze and when they looked around, their eyes lit up with a slight bit of fear at what they found with Kurome looking especially terrified. Several troopers, clad in white with the occasional detail highlighted in black along with the only odd man out being one with a reddish shoulder pauldron, were spreading out all around them. In response to all this, Bols turned towards the frightened boy and spoke with a voice that was full of concern.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." In response, Wave couldn't help but nod. A few seconds later, the trooper with the pauldron walked up to the masked man, stopping only to signal for the troopers to keep their weapons raised at all times.

"Are you the leader of this group?" The trooper questioned with a voice that as Wave noted, seemed strangely both polite and hate-filled. Knowing that fighting wasn't worth it right now, Bols gave a polite nod.

"Not quite officer," He began. "our actual commander left for some important personal business, I'm sure she'll be back if you take the moment to w-"

"Who's this commanding officer?" The trooper interjected to which Bols simply kept his calm tone and continued.

"Esdeath, she's our General, I'm Bols and the rest you see here are all my group, as you can see there is nothing to see and certainly there is no need to raise any hell. Moving on though, who are you and who do you work for?" The trooper visibly tensed up, like he felt insulted to which Bols once again, remained as calm as he could.

"I mean, it only seems fair. After all, they are basic pleasantries and to me, a peaceful resolve will always be better than a violent one." Eyeing him out of concern for another couple of moments, the trooper visibly relaxed and complied.

"Stormtrooper Officer FN-6776 of the First Order." The trooper began. "And I must ask, what are you doing here? This is a restricted area." In response, the man gave him an apologetic look or at least, the best he could manage with the mask covering his expression.

"My sincerest apologies," He began. "you see, your organization has been causing quite the storm back at the Capital with your actions reaching the Empire a-"

"Hold on," The trooper began with a raised hand, "Did you say 'Empire'?" Bols nodded.

"Yes, now anyways, we've been hearing about how these armored troopers of yours have been tearing apart several villages in the area, villages that support us and we honestly came out to investigate and I'm sure if you can clear this up, we'll be on our way. Again, I'm terribly sorry for the trouble we've caused you." Right then and there, the trooper caught something in his peripheral vision, something that seemed extremely... interesting and vital. Ignoring all of Bols's words, only giving him small nods to keep him unsuspecting, FN-6776 began to make his way towards the sight he saw, the black haired boy and girl with the latter visibly tensing up with every step he took. Feeling just a bit more protective, Wave's grip around his friend began to tighten right then and there, especially when the trooper was just inches away from the pair.

"What are your names?" The trooper questioned. Kurome said absolutely nothing with Wave just shooting him a glare.

"None of your business." He blurted. "Like Bols said, we're sorry for the mess and we will be going soon." In response, the officer felt slightly insulted but before he could say anything, the masked man called out to him.

"Terribly sorry for that, you see, that boy who's named Wave, tensed up the moment he heard about you guys and he's just generally uncomfortable around strange groups like yours, even my own so please, do excuse him."

"Is that so?" The trooper began right before he turned back towards the two. "Well then, I guess I have no luck with you, maybe the girl will prove more useful to us." Before the boy could react, Bols immediately shot him a look and with that after a few grumbles, he relaxed himself. Wincing slightly, Kurome looked the trooper dead in the eyes, the faint smell of alcohol being subtle but very, VERY noticeable.

"I'm sure you can answer this for us," He began. "what role do you play in this group?" The swordswoman said nothing, her wincing face soon developing into that of a glare, a glare that seemed to humor the trooper who let out a small chuckle.

"Now it's fairly easy, all you need to do i-"

"I'm not giving you a single piece you wretch." Kurome spat out, causing the trooper to let out another small chuckle.

"Well aren't you acting a little feisty today," The officer began as he proceeded to sheathe his blaster. "I don't think you realize the severity of the situation." Right then and there with reflexes as sudden and quick as a smuggler's trigger-finger, the trooper roughly shoved Wave down to the ground with one hand and gripped Kurome by the collar with the other.

"Resistance is futile, give us what we need!" The officer demanded with Kurome still shaking her head from side-to-side which served only to infuriate him.

"Listen here you little brat! I can give the order anytime I want to have your friends wiped out! Either you cooperate or you die!"

"I'd rather die!" Kurome shouted back, trying desperately to break from the iron grip.

"Don't be so foolish!" The trooper growled. Watching the whole scene go down from the distance, Bols continued to stare at it for a few more seconds before proceeding to slowly turn towards the rest of the troopers.

"I guess things never change." He said to himself with a sigh. A few moments later, he looked towards Seryu and gave her a small hand gesture which she responded to with a small nod.

"Koro! NOW!" She shouted. A few seconds later, in a scene that looked like something straight out of a dream, the troopers watched as the cute dog-like creature's face suddenly turned extremely monstrous and after letting out a loud roar, it grew several sizes and opened its mouth, the insides being filled with ENDLESS rows of teeth. A few seconds later, they watched with pure horror as the beast chomped down on the girl's arm, the sound of what they assumed to be bone shattering playing soon after. Before they even had a chance to pick their jaws off the floor or pull the trigger, the beast released the girl's arm, revealing that the slightly metallic armor had disappeared and in its place was something far more... deadly but before they had time to really gawk at it, the girl's face changed into that of a twisted smile right as she pointed the massive cannon towards the troopers.

"Justice will be served!" With that one comment, it all happened in a flash. One moment, the troopers were all standing ready to fight and the other, they were ripped apart by several metal objects coming their way, the force and size of which caused several chunks of their armor to be torn from their bodies along with pieces of flesh with the officer looking on in horror as his entire platoon was being wiped out with ease. Seeing that the grip had loosened and that he was distracted, Kurome wasted no time and in just a few seconds, she kneed the trooper right in between the legs. Howling in pain, the officer dropped to the ground with his face twisting both in pain and with shock at how damage was actually inflicted on him despite wearing armor. In fact, the only time he had felt pain like that beforehand was when Kylo gave him a direct punch to the gut after he ended up blowing his chance at a takeover of Dathomir and that was the first time he was hit by a... Force user. Before he could ponder this over anymore, the swordswoman drew her blade and in a few short seconds, she made a nice clean slash through his neck, stopping to take in every moment that the helmeted head came rolling off the body and as the neck soon became a fountain of blood with most of it splattering all over her. Pleased at the sight, Bols began to take a look around when he saw one trooper, trying his damnedest to limp away, a sight that particularly set off Seryu.

"Damn it!" She grunted. "I missed one, you can't escape true justi-"

"Let him go." Bols ordered, his hand lightly setting on the girl's shoulder. "He won't last long enough to get past the Danger Beasts, as far as he's concerned, he's dead to me." Remaining silent for a couple moments, Seryu then gave Bols a nod of agreement. As her arm changed back into its normal shape, the brute took one last look all around him where he saw that aside from the obvious new additions of dead troopers, there was nothing more to see.

"Alright gentlemen," He began. "we're done here, time to move out!" Giving him their salute, the Jaegers immediately began to move out with Bols, Wave and Kurome lagging behind just slightly due to the thoughts that filled their mind.

"For your sake, I hope you're right about this group Prime Minister." Bols and Wave began with perfect mental synchronization. "Because honestly, with what I've seen, if this whole thing falls apart. I think you may see the Jaegers with at least ONE less member."

* * *

 _Author's Addendum:  
_

 **Before I go, I just thought I would cover an interesting little review that I got regarding this story and its content. A review that claimed I forgot about Finn's issues along with apparently being given the impression that I'm going to make the First Order all quote "Esdeath bitches." and well... I know people responding to comments like this is odd and usually you should ignore them but I feel it's only fair that I do answer to it in as respectful of a way as I can.  
**

 **No, I have not forgotten about the issues with Finn and I do wonder how you could even suggest that guest when this story isn't even 10 or so chapters in. So far, most of it has been just setting the ground work for future chapters and haven't focused really on the internal workings of the First Order... because that is NOT the intention. The point of this story is to cross Star Wars over with Akame ga Kill in the style of the movies, in that I throw you into the action with occasional bits of backstory being peppered in here and there. Bear in mind that this again, isn't even far enough into the actual plot to really make a comment like that. Now I will say that I'm sorry that I did give the impression that I forgot or if you feel I am portraying the First Order inaccurately, I am trying my hardest to follow the movies and currently, I'm trying to keep the plot simple. That isn't to say of course some troopers WON'T question their orders but until that does happen, please just know that this is meant to be a fun action story with dark elements.**

 **And now we come to the comment that I feel particularly... at odds with. The comment that apparently, I'm turning the First Order into Esdeath's bitches and honestly, let me come in and clear up that fear right now by saying right off the bat that I am working hard to not fall into the traps that MOST Akame ga Kill fanfics fall into with undermining every villain for the sake of Esdeath being one of them. In fact, so far Esdeath's appearances have been kept down to somewhat of a minimum and that is so that Kylo and the First Order can get their times to shine.**

 **Again, if I concerned you then I do apologize but please, be respectful man and don't jump the gun. Much like what I tell people who are already hating on The Force Awakens and are saying that it answered too little, please don't count your chickens before they hatch, see where the story is going first before you start jumping the gun because let's be honest here, making disingenuous assertions... it's a path to the Dark Side.**

 **Thanks for reading, please do post your thoughts and speculation in the review section. I try my hardest to read EVERY post there is and there's a good chance I may respond to you.**

 **May the Force be with you.**


	7. Chapter 7

_Millions of lightyears away..._

( _Undisclosed Throne Room_ )

Throughout all of history, there have been several unexplained anomalies, anomalies that only a handful of people would truthfully understand, it could be a massive new discovery that has the possibility to be used for both catastrophic destruction or for the defense of the entire galaxy. These could take the forms of practically anything, whether it be a simple ancient artifact or even just a hermit who happens to possess unimaginable power.

However, there are some anomalies that to even the heartiest of people, the amount of fear it incites is... unspeakable, unimaginable. These are the types of things that with just one look or even just a simple mention, you can already tell that what lies behind that surface is pure, bone-chilling, soul-crushing, cold-hearted... evil and that description fit no one better than the one, draped in dark robes, sitting at his throne with head against his hand and despite not looking like much, the sheer presence he commanded was almost as dark as the original Dark Lord himself, Emperor Palpatine.

His skin, pale, wrinkled and scarred to an unimaginable degree. His frame, thin and sickly, looking as though he was raised from the dead. His fingers, thin and elongated with his pale skin making it appear as though it were bone. All of these elements combined with the loose fitting black robe would have you believe that this, this... thing was about as strong as a baby womp-rat and honestly, the thing himself wouldn't blame you... and then before you could even say anything more, you would automatically feel this growing, unspeakable pain in your head which would continue to become worse and worse until eventually, your eyes shut and your body fell limp with your final moments being left for you to wonder why it exactly happened in the first place. The answer was simple though you obviously wouldn't be living long enough to obtain it.

The pain was inflicted not by a hand, a blaster or even an parasite. Rather, it was inflicted through the Force and this particular power belonged to who is quite possibly the most feared hermit in the galaxy, a relic that was once thought to be lost only to be uncovered just a few moments after the Empire fell. That relic was the one and only supreme commander of the First Order and practitioner of the Dark Side, Supreme Leader Snoke.

Origins unknown with the only information being that he has lived through the rise and fall of the Galactic Empire, no one knew who or what exactly Snoke was and despite the ever-growing feeling that they probably don't want to find out, there have been several guesses and if he had to be honest, some of these crazy theories gave him a good chuckle or two. Most of them simply stated that he was the reincarnation of several various Dark Side users over the years such as Maul, Malgus, the Inquisitor, Vader, Sidious or what was quite possibly his favorite one of all, Darth Plagueis the wise who funnily enough, was the Sith he based most of his decisions off of, often preferring to hang back and learn more about how he could improve his technique in the Force instead of lightsaber combat and use logic to carefully plan out assaults instead of the usual "rush in guns blazing" strategy that the Sith, the Empire and even the First Order were quite fond of using before he took over. The Dark Lord was such an inspiration in fact that when he took a certain pupil under his tutelage for the first time, he leaned in close and used this direct quote which was recounted in one of his many writings as an example of how he approached the idea of obtaining an apprentice.

"Tell me what you regard as your greatest strength, so I will know how best to undermine you; tell me of your greatest fear, so I will know which I must force you to face; tell me what you cherish most, so I will know what to take from you; and tell me what you crave, so that I might deny you." If it weren't for his own apprentice being on his mind, this thought probably wouldn't have popped in but regardless, it was one that he greatly recalled as being one of his most notable successes. Ben Solo no longer, the dark warrior Kylo Ren was on his knees, bowing at his feet with hands raised up slightly with open palms as his lightsaber was lowered into his hands. When he opened his eyes, he could vividly remember how... disappointed he seemed at the blade's rather crude design despite it being a weapon he created and when asked, the answer given to him was chillingly on the nose.

"Your grandfather, Anakin Skywalker was pampered by his master." His mind played back. "He had great potential, unimaginable skill... skill that he wasted when he turned to the Light. With just that one moment of weakness, he let it all crumble down on top of him, one of his many shortcomings with the only thing that overshadowed it being when his lack of strategy or tact failed, it was then he lost his battle against the great Obi-Wan Kenobi. You see, master of the Knights of Ren, if you are to truthfully outdo your grandfather, if you are to truthfully bring respect and honor back to the Dark Side of the Force then you must remember one simple fact. If one is given power too early, failure is most imminent with overconfidence as it was with Vader. However... if one is given limits to overcome, a ceiling to strive towards breaking... your power will grow far beyond anything Vader ever could've achieved. View this saber, this weapon which is as crude and ancient as the design itself is only what you make of it. Succeed your training, surpass my expectations and if you can achieve that, the pain which you feel will die, just like the weak-minded boy you once were." From what he could recall, the only response he ever received from that man was an honorable bow followed up by him slowly moving his finger up to ignite the saber with the face he made upon taking one glance at the red serrated blade being not of Ben Solo but rather, he was looking straight into the eyes of Kylo Ren... if only he had actually listened to him from that point onward.

"That boy..." The Supreme Leader mentally began, his eyes being locked on the two small torches that faintly lit up the corner of the room. "in his eyes, I saw the perfect balance, one who was entrenched in both the darkness... and the light. A new member of the most promising bloodline, the only one to have ever brought the Jedi to its knees. Like his grandfather before him, he possesses unimaginable talents that surpass anything the old masters could ever dream of... and I was the one to bring them out." At this one thought, the hermit couldn't help but smirk to himself as he slowly clasped his hands together.

"It's true Skywalker brought out his potential in the Force and trained him in the art of perfect defense... a typical Jedi teaching. But it was I who like many before me, brought out his potential in the darkness, it was I who gave him his mastery in the art of combat, it was I who showed him the true weakness in the light and unlike most, he was my most... promising student, the only one who had the potential to truthfully reinstate the dignity of the Dark Side and bring balance to the Force by wiping out the last surviving Jedi." A few seconds later, he could feel a familiar emotion beginning to set in, one that was the primary fuel for any Dark Side user's power, their "bread and butter" if you will.

"However, despite my best efforts, he still continues to defy me." He began, the walls around him beginning to slowly wiggle and shake, causing slight dust clouds to be kicked up. "Even after that scavenger bested him, humiliated him which fueled his rage like no other... he still lets his personal feelings cloud his judgment which leads to him ignoring the most notable issue of all... the Resistance." The shaking started to pick up in pace with some walls developing slight cracks as the Dark Lord's teeth began to grit.

"He destroyed Han Solo, his call to the light. His power is at its peak, his skill cannot be matched and yet, he believes that desertion is the best course of action!" Possibly due to his bony frame or just the rage he was emanating from him, Snoke watched as a faint stream of red began to trickle down his mitts and onto the ground below which for most men, was a sight that would at the very least cause them to wince. Fortunately enough for him, Snoke was NOT one of those men.

"I gave him strict instruction, regardless of if the presence was there or not, leaving now would lead to only our deaths!" A few seconds later, a small piece of rock was shaken free from its confines, falling to the ground with a small "PING!" noise being made upon impact. "For all he knows, these girls could be pulls to the light and yet he still chose the mission over the FORCE?!" A few more rocks dropped to the ground, the thin beams of light shining through the holes with ease. The shaking now was almost as violent as an earthquake with boulders dropping to the ground which was also cracking beneath his feet, the beams of light becoming larger and larger as his anger flared up more and more.

"I worked for AGES to bring the Empire back from the depths of its boundless failure! When they came to me, they were broken, meek, frail and their attitudes were that of an infant. If it wasn't for my assistance, MY leadership, the Dark Side never would've prospered as much as it is now!" As this continued to go on, the Supreme Leader's eyes switched from their darkened hue to that of the usual yellow and red that a Sith possessed and with how dark the room was, it seemed as though the color cast a faint glow.

"To see him ready to ruin that foundation which I've spent YEARS building up is an act of treason I simply CANNOT follow or allow to happen!" After a few more seconds, the Supreme Leader finally took note of how much damage he was causing and realized that if this continued on for much longer, the entire throne room would crumble in an instant which was something he certainly didn't want, especially when considering that this planet was widely remembered as being the birthplace of the Sith. Taking a moment to shut his eyes and readjust himself in his chair, Snoke took in a deep, long relaxing breath and as he held it, the shaking went from a violent rattle to a light jostling before stopping completely. Keeping his eyes shut, he continued onward.

"At the very least, he wasn't wrong." His internal voice sounded off, the tone being far calmer and lower in volume. "I felt the presence as well and from what I could recall, the energy seemed... familiar, almost exactly like Kylo's own which played a role in my decision to let this pass." His face shifting into that of concern, the hermit moved his hand upward and proceeded to gently glide his fingers along the missing chunk of his cheek all while his eyes began to slowly close. "At the very least, if my apprentice is correct and he is successful in his mission, then we will most likely have more of a fighting chance against the Resistance and possibly, we can restart the Sith Order and put an end to that worthless, archaic order that fool Bane put out."

"Nevertheless, my doubts are still present." He began with a sigh. "So Kylo, master of the Knights of Ren, if you can hear me right now, let me restate this one final time. This is your one and only chance, if you succeed then the rewards have clearly outweighed the risks... but fail me again..." After letting it go, his eyes slowly opened, revealing that the yellow color of rage had completely drained from them, his brow scrunched up ever so slightly and for the first time in a long while since Ren left, he finally opened his mouth to echo the chilling words he had playing back in his mind.

"Know that death is your one and only consequence."

* * *

 _Millions of lightyears away..._

( _Undisclosed Forest_ )

Everything seemed to happen so fast, so much so that even she couldn't believe it. If one had told her way back when she first joined Night Raid that her career would eventually lead to her having to chase after a boy with anger issues and a magical set of armor while also having to deal with an army of white-clad soldiers with laser guns, she most likely would've assumed you were on drugs... oh how she wished that were the case.

When she first received word from the boss, she barely had any time to get dressed in her combat gear and so the only option she had was a loose fitting cloak that just barely covered her outfit which was sagging off of her body like nothing else. To make matters worse, this was one of the colder days with very light but extremely breezy winds blowing through with ease, taking every chance it had to nip at her exposed flesh. Despite this, Leone continued to push forward, her determination to find Tatsumi being far more important to her than worrying about how cold she was.

"Had I known this was how he was going to react, I possibly wouldn't have even told him." Leone thought to herself right as she leaped from one tree to the next, the bark crackling both due to the pressure and the speed she was going at.

"But then again, had I not told him, he eventually would've found out anyway and his emotions most likely would've been at an even poorer state." At the mention of the last word, Leone's eyes widened ever so slightly with concern once the image of a familiar silver haired woman came to mind.

"The boss must be going through hell." She thought with a sigh. "She worked so hard to get us this far and it was mostly thanks to Tatsumi..." Landing on the ground below, the scout then proceeded to break off into a run. "and now he's going off a bit into the deep end..." Feeling a small bit of guilt, Leone slowly looked down at her hand, recalling how she first came across the boy, ranting and raving about how the Empire wouldn't take him in which led to her conning him out of his money for some drinks and then the next time they met, he was at that one home during one of their assassinations.

Ever since that day when she convinced the team to bring him in, they had shared many, many victories against the Empire and it was all thanks to the boy's sheer tenacity and surprising amount of skill with a sword and when combined with the large amount of hope and drive to fight, he helped them through the worst of it all and it was one of the reasons why she felt her heart beginning to... flutter whenever he was around. However, it seemed as though the times had changed. Ever since Sheele's death, it set something off within the boy and the fact she couldn't see it was almost maddening since it should've been so obvious to her and had she noticed beforehand, most likely none of this nonsense ever would've happened. Before she could linger on this thought any longer, she finally burst through the trees and onto a nice wide open field which greeted her not with beauty but with something that could be considered both horrific and worthwhile.

Laying right in front of her with their shattered white armor, bloody pieces of missing flesh, cracked visors and the occasional faint last breath were the exact same troopers she saw back when Tatsumi's village went down.

"Holy shit..." She muttered to herself. "looks like they pissed someone off." If this was any other moment, Leone knew that she possibly would've found this quite cathartic and would take pride and relief in knowing that a group like this could be taken down. However, due to the current situation, the stakes at hand and the fact that she could sense a couple dark auras in the distance, she knew that now was not the time. After taking a few more seconds to glance over the broken bodies, the scout was ready to move out when she heard a small crackling noise followed up by a voice.

"FN-6776, come in!" Despite it being somewhat muffled, Leone began to carefully glance around in an attempt to find the source.

"FN-6776! This is FN-2000, we heard gunfire, are you and your men alright?!" Finally catching it, she began to slowly make her way towards the corpse, taking every precaution she could to not touch any of the fresh exposed wounds.

"Come in FN-6776!" After about a minute or so, she finally stopped at the headless, battered body of the one apparently known as FN-6776 which Leone couldn't help but chuckle at due to it being quite the oddball of a name. Dropping down to one knee, she began to carefully scrounge through all their equipment and what she found was quite impressive. Despite not being a massive fan of guns, she had to admit that whoever made the weapons for these men knew EXACTLY what they were doing. The sleek paintjob, the simple yet effective color combination of silver, white and black, the way the grips were so easy to hold yet so durable. If weapons were a work of art, she felt that they would definitely be put up on display for all to see.

"These are remarkable," She began. "I wonder if we can bring one back and possibly reproduce these."

"Who's there?!" The muffled voice called out, shaking the scout free from her trance. "All troops and transports in the area, move out and find that stranger!"

"Crap!" She cursed. "I have to find Tatsumi and fast!" Immediately with weapon in hand, Leone made a break for the trees and she couldn't have picked a better time since a few seconds after she had left, there was a faint low hum that began to metaphorically nip at her eardrums, convincing her to look back, only to have her eyes widen with shock at the box-shaped ships that were beginning to make their landing, the same type of ships that she saw land at the village which encouraged her to increase her pace exponentially.

 _Meanwhile..._

When she first heard of how good of a warrior Syura was, she never exactly thought much of the supposed ability his Imperial Arms possessed to manipulate time and space, giving him the ability of teleportation. After all, the entire focus of her team's training was to condition their bodies in the case that they ever did face an Imperial Arms user with the focus more being on natural ability than it was the weapons themselves. To add onto that, the idea of a weapon like that seemed far too ridiculous, while she and Nines didn't exactly get along, she did agree with him, just because someone had a special weapon that granted him the edge in a fight didn't always mean that the victor was decided, it just meant the fight was going to be harder and oh boy was the fight difficult since currently, she was at the mercy of the warrior's brutal punches and kicks with every time she went to strike him, he'd just disappear without a trace and currently, she was locked in a brutal contest with the warrior on a nearby tree branch.

With her skills in mind, Mez moved into a series of fast but graceful kicks that were easily avoided by the simple sways of Syura and all the while this was going on, he proceeded to taunt her.

"Sweetheart, come on, you can't honestly think you're going to defeat me like that." He commented, his dodges and blocks not losing any sense of speed or technique. "You should just give up now and save me the trouble."

"Not a chance." She said with a shake of her head before proceeding to thrust her arm outward in a brutal punch. Smirking, Syura immediately gripped her fist and began to squeeze, causing her to wince in pain which in turn caused his smirk to turn into a grin.

"Really?" He began with a sense of false interest. "Well then, I guess that's fine, though I've always been more fond of bitches who scream but I guess a dead one would have to do." With that said, the man immediately tightened his grip around her arm and with a mighty heave, he lifted her up and slammed her into the tree branch behind him, causing her to scream out in pain. With his grip still wrapped around her arm, he lifted her up and stared into her face, taking note of the small stream of blood trickling from her mouth.

"You should've known by now that things weren't going to go your way," He began with a sinister hiss to his voice. "after all, it's not nice to treat a gentleman like me so harshly. Do I have to teach you any ma-ACK!" The only answer the man received was one massive boot to the head, causing him to be knocked back a few feet and his grip around Mez's arm to loosen. Now back on her feet, she took a moment to give her arm a few test rotations just to make sure it was alright and cracked her neck before proceeding to move back into her fighting position.

"Those are my manners." Taking a moment to rub his face, the lavender-haired man couldn't help but let out a bout of chilling laughter as his gaze morphed into that of his usual creepy wide-eyed smile.

"You call that a retort?" He began. "You really have been living under a rock haven't you? That sounds like a quote from an awful action movie."

"And you look like someone vomited pastels in your hair." She responded, inciting another laugh from the man.

"I'll admit, that's a good one though you should know, it doesn't matter how ridiculous I look, as long as I have the power you see now, I'll be feared by all who see me."

"Personally, I think your fatass of a clown is what people fear more."

"Is that so?" He replied right as he set his hands at his hips. "Well Champ always was the more... unconventional I would say and one who definitely puts the 'wild' in Wild Hunt. It's really quite splendid to see our talents are recognized all around the Capital."

"I would HARDLY call what you do a talent."

"That's because you've never understood the beauty of mutilation." He responded with a sinister glint in his eye. "Even you of all people should know, after all you apparently worked with Bolic is that right, speaking of which, how is that man doing? I haven't seen him at the bars recently, is he taking a break or is he just... occu-AGH!"

"Your weakness is like, so predictable." She began, all the while she proceeded to lay down a series of brutal punches on Syura's abdomen and face. "All it takes is just one hot bitch like me to get you talking and as usual, you boys will never shut up, leaving yourself wide open for a variety of attacks." After a few more seconds, the psycho finally straightened himself out and blocked Mez's assault with open palms, following up with a quick teleport. A few moments later, just when Mez thought she had every move memorized, she was caught off-guard by a brutal tackle that sent her careening toward the ground with Syura proceeding to beat the tar out of her on the way down.

"I can say the same for you my sweet," He began, taking a moment to hold up his weapon. "but as long as I have this, you have no chance of beating me." At that point, Mez knew that there was just no way she was getting out of that one and as much as she hated to admit, Syura was kind of right. Despite this, she continued to fight, her fists swinging wildly at the warrior which led to her landing some pretty good shots. Finally, the two hit the ground, the impact causing a loud "CRACK!" to be heard from beneath them. Ready to battle more, Syura looked down at the warrior to see if she still had fight left in her... only to be both shocked and pleasantly surprised when he saw that the girl was out cold, causing him to give a lick of his lips.

"Finally," He began. "now I can truthfully punish you." With that said, the psycho began to drag his hands up her body, taking in every curve, every inch of her smooth skin, stopping only when he reached her breasts. His instincts kicking in, the warrior tossed his weapon to the side and began to roughly rub and knead the mounds of flesh. He would've continued that for several more minutes had it not been for a loud scream that played in the distance that caused his head to jerk upward.

"What the he-AGH!" Before he could react, he watched as his vision became completely filled by the sight of Tatsumi flying towards him and felt as his entire young body came crashing straight into him, the force of which knocked him out cold. Once he hit the ground, the boy felt as he began to roll for a bit only to stop himself by planting both his feet and his sword firmly into the ground, just in time to watch as the trooper came charging for him with baton held over his head. A few seconds later and right before the weapon could come crashing towards his skull, Tatsumi drew the weapon from the ground and blocked it, thus continuing the trend of constant blocks and dodges once again with the only difference being that the two of them were seemingly watching each others' movements, waiting for the right opening.

From the beginning of the fight to the position they were in now, Nines could tell that the boy was definitely FAR more skilled with a sword than FN-2187 was since at the very least, he was using a few more blocks and parries that he'd expect to see out of a Jedi Knight. However, it was quite obvious that the boy lacked focus and emotional control since there were a few occasions where he tried to throw in a punch or a kick, only to be taken aback by his masterful dodges and hits to the abdomen.

"Clearly the age of elegant weapons and civilized duels has become a thing of the past." He thought to himself as he continued to defend against the boy's strikes. After a few more brutal clashes, the two locked weapons and began to stare each other down, the trooper being able to feel the heat of Tatsumi's glare though really, that was only the impression the outside gave since internally, Tatsumi's mind was both shocked and freaked out at what he was doing and was desperately pleading for him to turn back.

"He's not even using an Imperial Arms and yet he's still so skilled!" He thought to himself. "I'm flaring with rage and yet he's just acting so calm about it all, is this the same attitude he took when he attacked my village?" The moment that thought finished, Tatsumi could feel his rage flaring up once more, his teeth beginning to grit, his glare becoming sharper and his pushing becoming much more forceful. After a few more seconds, Tatsumi broke the clash with a brutal straight kick to the stomach followed up by a slash at the abdomen... only to look on with shock as the only thing it did was scrape against the white material.

"What the hell is that thing made out of?!" He thought to himself. Seeing his opportunity, the trooper rushed towards the boy with weapon in hand, ready to swing it right at his skull. His vision quickly filling up with the sight of the baton, Tatsumi immediately raised his weapon, almost tripping up in the process right as the baton came clanging against the shimmering blade. Before the boy could straighten himself out, the trooper followed up with a well-timed overhead strike that, despite being blocked, knocked the boy down to the ground just from the sheer force of his strength. Shaken up, the boy took a moment to writhe in pain before proceeding to stare up at Nines, his gaze locking with his.

"That can't be all the fight in you, get up!" He demanded. Right at that moment, Tatsumi slowly began to hobble up to his feet, using his sword to prop himself the rest of the way.

"This isn't good," He began. "I can probably hold out against him for just a little longer but he's just leagues above me, what am I going to do?" Before his mind could answer that question, Tatsumi found himself being shaken from that thought by a brutal baton strike to the stomach that sent him reeling backward onto the ground once more.

"Come on!" He said with a growl. "I've seen Gungans do better than that!" Despite having no idea what the race was he just mentioned, Tatsumi could feel his rage beginning to boil within him. Tightening his grip around the sword's hilt, he picked himself up off the ground and without warning, he charged for the trooper with arms drawn back. Bracing himself, the trooper met the blow with ease though this time, Tatsumi was clearly using a lot more of what he had with Nines now having to keep an eye on the boy to match his pace. After another series of blocks and parries, the trooper swung his weapon towards the boy's head which he avoided by quickly leaning back. Wanting to catch him off-guard, the trooper followed this up with a quick sweep kick which the boy avoided as well with a quick hop followed up by a roundhouse kick straight to the helmet, causing the trooper to stumble a bit.

"I've got you now!" Tatsumi thought to himself right as he raised the weapon overhead, ready to possibly go in for another cut. Seeing his opportunity, the trooper immediately dropped his weapon and charged the boy with one brutal tackle, the force of which both knocked the air out of his lungs and caused him to drop his weapon. After a few seconds of carrying him, the older man pushed Tatsumi down onto the ground and without hesitation, he proceeded to deliver a series of brutal punches to the boy's face. Feeling his adrenaline kick in after about a minute or so, the now bloodied and bruised Tatsumi quickly gripped the trooper's fist followed up by a massive headbutt to his head which despite causing him pain due to the helmet, it succeeded in knocking the armored bag of flesh off of him.

After going into a small combat roll to stop himself, the trooper wasted no time and charged towards the boy with a face full of determination. Once the two met, the duel devolved into a series of brutal punches and kicks that collided with one another with only a few hits actually making their mark. Despite the attempts he made at holding out and his determination, it was becoming rather clear to Nines that he was still the better fighter. After a few more moments of blocking and parrying, the boy immediately decided to pull a dirty trick as a last resort and with all his might, he launched his foot upward in an attempt to kick the trooper in the crotch. Noticing this right away, Nines quickly gripped the foot and with his elbow, he slammed it down straight into his knee with all his might, causing the bones to give with a loud "CRACK!" which incited a scream of pain from his opponent. His determination still pushing him to continue on, Tatsumi's immediate gut reaction was to grip the trooper's helmet, rip it straight off his head and with all his might, he bashed the red-haired man in the face with the hard object before proceeding to toss it to the side.

With all his might, Tatsumi wasted no time and followed up his strike with a quick but powerful deck to the jaw, causing a small stream of blood and spit to be flung from his mouth as he stumbled backward. Taking a moment to wipe it from his lips, Nines took notice of the blaster that was resting rather neatly beside his foot. Seeing as Tatsumi was making another charge for him, the trooper quickly stepped on the weapon at just the right angle, flinging it up into the air for him to grab hold. After turning the safety off, he was ready to fire when the boy was already inches away from him. With the perfect opportunity gone, the trooper immediately moved back into trying his hardest to dodge and block everything Tatsumi threw at him. Finally after a few moments, the boy was just about to go in for another strike to the face when Nines swayed out of the way and seeing as how his weapon was pointing into the boy's abdomen, he immediately let loose two quick bursts of energy into his sides, causing him to howl in pain all while he stumbled backward with hands frantically grasping at the wound.

At that point, Nines was dead certain that Tatsumi would finally just give up and with that in mind, he began to walk back, stopping only to grab hold of both Syura's Imperial Arms and his baton. However, just when he was inches away from Mez's unconscious body, he heard a loud battle-cry.

"YOU'RE NOT LEAVING BASTARD!" Tatsumi called out with sword in hand, his face still bleeding from the blunt trauma moments before. After storing both his blaster and the Imperial Arms, Nines immediately flicked his weapon to life and charged for the boy once more. The clashes overall were much more sloppy than before, the boy's injuries clearly being the main cause of it all. Though Nines did have to give him credit, he certainly was lasting longer than the traitor ever did against him and that was saying a hell of a lot. During these next few clashes, the trooper watched and listened as the boy began to vent all his anger towards him.

"This is for the pain you caused me!" He began right as the pair's overhead strikes clashed, causing Nines to stumble backward.

"THIS is for murdering my family!" As this was going on, the trooper was carefully examining the boy's movements, waiting for the perfect opening. Finally, after a few more clashes, Tatsumi caught him off guard with a brutal kick to the stomach that caused him stumble back into a tree. After regaining his composure, Nines looked up to see the boy with weapon raised over his head, ready to bring it down onto his skull.

"AND THIS IS FOR THE HONOR OF MY VILLAGE!" Right before he brought the weapon down, the trooper felt as metaphorical switches in his head went off right then and there and without hesitation, he initiated his plan.

With baton in hand and after making sure he had a firm grip on it, the trooper immediately swung the weapon upward and just as the sword was inches away from cutting into his cranium, the electrified stick came crashing straight into the boy's crotch with the force of an incoming speeder bike. All color drained from the boy's face, his eyes widened to extreme degrees, the grip on his weapon loosened, the only action he took being to let out one long, blood-curdling scream of pure agony.

Seeing his chance and after a few seconds of him backing away, his weapon falling to the ground in the process, Nines wasted no time and sheathed his weapon before proceeding to slowly walk towards the boy. Once he was inches away, he took a quick moment to crack his knuckles and before he could react, Tatsumi felt as a tightly balled fist came crashing into his face, causing his eyes to discolor a little bit and blood to spurt from his mouth. Not wanting to be beaten like this, the boy weakly threw his arm forward in an attempt to punch the trooper when he immediately swayed out of the way, grabbed his arm and gave a quick brutal upward open palm strike, causing the bone to go out with a "SNAP!". Howling in pain once more, the boy quickly gripped his injured arm a few seconds before he found himself being decked once again by another speedy fist with this strike now causing the boy to spit out a few bits of bloodied teeth. Stopping for a moment to examine his opponent, Nines couldn't help but comment on Tatsumi's worn down condition.

"How pathetic." He began. "It's honestly a wonder why Commander Ren wants you because just from this one fight, you have shown me NOTHING that indicates you as being a worthy addition to the First Order." Feeling his anger flare up again, Tatsumi looked up toward the trooper with a face full of pure malice.

"Good, because I would NEVER want to be associated with y-"

"SILENCE!" Nines interjected right as he gave the boy a brutal punch to the gut, causing him to drop to his knees. "I don't care what exactly you think of us, all I know is that this planet will be ours and there will be nothing you can do to stop it." After taking a moment to cough up a little blood, the boy looked up towards the trooper once more.

"You'll say that now but trust me, once the Revolutionary Army catches wind of this, they wi-"

"They will try to stop us with outdated means of attack like swords, staffs and arrows?" He interjected again as he began to slide his helmet back over his head. "Please don't try to humor us, our general has outfitted us with only the most advanced equipment for both defensive and offensive purposes and when combined with our combat training, your defenders will go down just like..." Right then, the trooper gave a quick snap of his fingers. "that." As Nines began to make his way back over to the injured boy, he decided to take a large risk and thrust his arm upward in an attempt to uppercut the trooper. Seeing it coming, Nines immediately leaned back and right there, he gave another brutal punch to Tatsumi's stomach before proceeding to grip his shoulders and continuously jam his knee into that exact same spot. After a few seconds, the trooper kept his knee embedded in the boy's stomach and during that time, he watched and felt as the young one began to vomit blood. After a few more seconds, Nines wasted no time and roughly shoved the injured boy down onto the ground and as he was writhing in pain, he began to unsheathe his blaster, his hands immediately flipping what appeared to be the safety though with how the barrel of the blaster lit up with a slight blue color seconds afterward, he couldn't really tell. However, that doubt was soon replaced once more with fear the moment his assailant began centering his aim on his head. Feeling his eyes going heavy, Tatsumi stared up at the trooper with a face full of shock, never in his life had he expected that this was going to be the way he was going to go out. It was almost like a dream, like one of those horrific nightmares that often left him sitting up in bed sweating, panting and occasionally mumbling curses. Realizing that there was no way out of this, the boy shut his eyes in preparation for his demise.

"Rest up my friend, you have a long flight ahead of you." Nines mumbled to himself right as he began to slightly squeeze the trigger when suddenly, his vision was filled by the sight of a rapidly approaching fist. Before he could react, he felt his entire body go numb and as his vision blacked out. On the other end, a certain blonde scout was calmly dusting off her fist all the while she stared at the trooper's unconscious body slamming against a tree.

"That's what you get for hurting my friend you son of a bitch." She grumbled to herself before turning her attention towards Tatsumi whose eyes were just barely open.

"L-Leone?" He weakly began. "Wh-What a-a-are y..." Leone wasted no time and slung the boy up over her shoulder.

"Saving your ass, that's what I'm doing, just relax, I'll get you out of here." At that moment, the boy's eyes widened slightly.

"No, I-I need to..."

"OVER THERE! GO! GO! GO!" A voice sounded off from behind the scout, causing her to look towards the boy.

"We can avenge people later, right now we've gotta get you the hell out of here!" Before Tatsumi could say anymore, Leone burst off into a run, hauling the injured warrior as best as she could through the trees. A few minutes later, a group of Stormtroopers burst onto the scene with one officer leading the charge. Not wanting to accept defeat so easily, the officer immediately gave a small signal for them to search the premises and through their scan, they found only the knocked out, battered bodies of Nines, Mez and a lavender haired stranger who was definitely not the one he heard over the comm since the voice was distinctly female. Despite this, the trooper did recognize the man who he thought he had seen jumping from tree to tree moments earlier around restricted areas where the beasts attacked which raised his suspicions immensely.

"You three," He began. "apprehend that man. The rest of you, gather up the troops and prepare to take them back to the transports."

"But Officer Zeroes, the gi-"

"The girl is lost, my biggest concern now is getting our troops safety! Gather them up now!"

"Sir yes sir." The trooper responded with a salute before proceeding to do what he was told along with the rest of the group. A few seconds later, a cold feminine voice sounded off behind them.

"So you're the First Order." Almost immediately, FN-2000 fired up his blaster and snapped his gaze to the back of him where he saw a tall, intimidating woman with long blue hair and a uniform that reminded him slightly of the basic attire General Hux wore.

"State your name and your business!" Zeroes commanded, his finger neatly resting on the trigger. Much to the trooper's surprise and possible frustration, the woman couldn't help but let out a light chuckle, almost as if the threat was worthless to her.

"Or what?" She began. "Surely you don't want to discuss this in a more... civilized manner?"

"State your business or we will fire!" The woman just continued to stare, her face developing into a small smirk.

"Again, I mean you no harm, there is no need for this pointless violen-"

"You're testing my patience!" He began with a growl. "I'm giving you one last chance, state your name and your business or we will be forced to shoot you dead!" At that moment, the woman continued to stare at them for an extended period of time, all the while she brought her hand to her chin.

"They really don't know what I can do, do they?" She thought to herself. "They really don't know just how ruthless I can really be and are just willing to kill me... wow... Ren has taught them well." Still waiting for their answer, the troopers kept their weapons centered on the woman, their faces filled to the brim with extreme caution at the possibilities of what she may do to them. Zeroes in particular felt somewhat... odd about this one. Despite not possessing any connection to the Force, the officer could sense and feel the sheer amount of dark energy that was radiating off of the woman and from what he could tell, it wasn't even related to the Force which had him even more concerned. Finally after a few more minutes, she spoke once more.

"So you want to know my business here?" She questioned. "Very well." Right then and there before the troopers' eyes, the woman carefully grabbed hold of her hat, slowly pulled it off of her head and gave an honorable bow right as she let out her next words.

"My name is Esdeath, I'm the general of the Empire and commander of the Jaegers. I seek a discussion with your commander, Kylo Ren."

* * *

 _Author's Addendum:  
_

 **Wow, that came out better than I expected it to... fight scenes usually aren't my forte so I hope this came out well. Please leave your reviews when you can and before I go, I just thought I would give a quick message to those who wondered about why the trooper was able to be kicked in the crotch last chapter.  
**

 **While a Stormtrooper does have full body armor, if you watch Akame ga Kill then you would know that Kurome is essentially a super soldier in that she had multiple tests performed on her that gave her incredible strength. She's basically a female Captain America that knows how to use a sword instead of a shield. Also, considering the only bit of info I have regarding the Stormtrooper armor of this trilogy is simply just a boast that it can resist the strength of a Wookiee, I'm going off pure assumption here but for the sake of this story, I'll just say that it's only slightly better than the armor of yesteryear.  
**

 **But really guys, at the end of the day, this doesn't affect your enjoyment of the story. It's just a minor detail that can be ignored. Now if I happen to accidentally pull an actual logical fallacy like let's say, a normal peasant can harm a Stormtrooper then you can definitely complain but other than that, just know that a complaint as minor as a trooper being able to be kicked in the nuts is just a nitpick to me, nothing more and nothing less.**

 **With that said, thank you SO much for reading and please be sure to leave your reviews. Even if you have left reviews before on previous chapters, please be sure to continue posting because I always love reading your thoughts.  
**


	8. Chapter 8

( _Night Raid HQ_ )

It was moving well past midnight and Night Raid was still as on edge as ever. A few moments after her meeting with Lubbock, Najenda had awoken everyone to inform them about the sudden departure of the new member, the swordsman Tatsumi. Despite never bothering to disclose the exact reasons for the action or even a guess with the only thing that actually was said being that Leone was on her way to get him, anyone with a brain present during the past few days already had a large clue as to what it was and no one was more affected by it shockingly enough than the one who was already quite rude to the boy in the past, a certain pink-haired sniper to be exact who sat at the edge of the room who despite her best efforts to look tough, she still came across as more than a little nervous with her hands constantly fiddling with one another and her gaze being centered on the floor at all times with the most worried of glances that one could ever see.

Needless to say, that became far worse when Leone came in with boy in hand, looking like how they initially expected his first mission to turn out. Granted, the injuries weren't grave but there was still plenty to be concerned about. From what looked to be a combination of burns and gunshot wounds in his abdomen with fresh blood still dripping from it to the several bruises and portions of discolored flesh all throughout his body, it certainly was worse than what anyone could expect and the worst part was that it didn't even look as though it was a Danger Beast that hit him which was especially true with the marks on his abdomen.

Despite how they could debate the wounds or what happened for hours on end, one thing was clear from the moment he was brought in and that was Tatsumi DESPERATELY needed medical attention and fast. Fast forward to now where after some hassle in transferring the warrior's battered broken body to another set of arms, Tatsumi was now resting peacefully in his bed with the only two who accompanied him being both the tall, bulky but medically proficient Susanoo and Mine who was sitting by bedside, her face looking as though it was on the verge of tears.

"Tatsumi." She solemnly thought to herself as she carefully rubbed his patched face. "Just why? Why did you have to worry us like that? Have you always been that stupid?" Of course, she knew the answer to that question since out of all the people she knew aside from the boss herself, Tatsumi by far was the most stubborn person that the sniper ever had the pleasure of meeting in her entire life and at first, she was absolutely certain that there was no way that the boy would grow on her. However, it was as the old saying went, never count your chickens before they hatch and in this case, Mine found herself completely shocked by how much Tatsumi had rubbed off on her in recent memory. For all of the times he drove her crazy, never had she met a person who was so understanding, so caring, so... human.

"Even after hurting me like that, you still went out and tried to fight off the threat yourself, all so that people like me can live a better life." Mine's free hand began to ball up into a fist right as a single tear dropped from her eye. "Just... how? How is it that you can be so brave and yet so stupid at the same time? How is it that you can drive me up a wall one moment and yet turn out so caring and sweet the next? HOW is it that you can be this human in the face of all the shit that we've faced?" Despite knowing her thoughts weren't going to be answered regardless of if she vocalized them or not, she still continued to stare at the injured boy for a little while longer, her single wet eye glistening from the one tear that dropped. For some sick individuals, they possibly would've looked at this as being cathartic, believing that what Tatsumi did was very deserving of this fate and many would expect Mine to think the same way... but she didn't. Instead, she just continued to softly run her hand through Tatsumi's messy brown locks all while staring at him with a face full of concern. Finally after a few more moments, the other person in the room let out a small noise.

"Done." Susanoo grunted as he stood up, using his arm to wipe the sweat from his brow. Being the team's only medical officer wasn't exactly the easiest task to perform, especially when considering that for the most part, normal medical materials and tools haven't exactly been the most available so he had to make due with what he had.

"Is he going to be alright?" Mine asked right as she jerked her head towards him. With a small reassuring smile, the weapon gave her a nod.

"He's lucky to have survived that." He began. "Whoever came after him injured him really good."

"What's his current status?" Stopping to take in a deep breath, Susanoo set his hands at his hips.

"So far he's only suffered a few cracked bones but thankfully there are no broken ones and while he wasn't inches away from death, that gunshot wound was bringing him to that point fairly quickly." If this had been a few months earlier, she would've chalked this up as being yet another example of a young recruit getting WAY over their head and possibly would not have even given the boy a concerned glance... yet it wasn't a few months earlier. For the very first time ever since she saw Sheele's weapon being wielded by that one brute, Mine could feel the rage in her heart beginning to ignite as she immediately stood up, her teeth grit and her hands balled into fists.

"When I find the bastard that did this, I'm going to make them pay!" Mine said with a growl right as she went to charge out the door, only to be stopped by Susanoo's serious, slightly whispery tone.

"I wouldn't get your hopes up about that. Looking at the shots, they don't match any gunshot, arrow or Imperial Arms related injuries and honestly, they're far too accurate for even the Empire." Her rage still rising, Mine shot him a look.

"So what does that mean?" Mine asked.

"It means that there's no way we're going to be able to trace this back." Susanoo responded right as he turned to face her. "Which means that the assailant could be anywhere by now." The sniper just stared in silence at the weapon for several straight seconds, the anger seeming to slowly drain from her face as time went on. After a little while longer, it seemed that she was completely calm which gave Susanoo the indication that he should walk towards her, only to stop when he saw her face light up with fury again and how in just a few seconds, she turned towards the wall behind her and gave it one good punch.

"I've had to deal with loss all my life!" Mine began as she rubbed her injured knuckles. "Sheele, Bulat, for God's sake I lived my whole life as a fucking animal, a sad, pathetic animal with no friends who was constantly abused by everyone around me all because of my blood-type." Seeing where this was going and not liking it one bit, Susanoo began to slowly make his way towards her.

"Mine..." Susanoo gently called out.

"If it wasn't for Night Raid, I don't think I'd even have the will to live! Especially with Tatsum-" Without warning, the large warrior lightly set one hand down on her shoulder and gently gripped it. Despite only being a member for a few weeks or so, Susanoo was no fool and took the time to learn of the origins of every member in order to better acquaint himself with them in the case of future missions that require teamwork and he had to admit, if he had a heart (or at least, a more human heart), Mine's story was definitely one that would've broken it as it took him back to the old days of human history where as he learned, several people were discriminated against purely based on skin-color and gender and in the case of Mine, there was no better example of that than her and with that in mind, he made sure to try his best to relax her.

"Mine..." He began as he turned her towards him. "while I may not be able to feel very many emotions like you do, I do harbor some form of understanding for your plight and I do regret having to disagree with you." Right before he continued, he set his free hand down on her other shoulder and with both present, he began to gently massage the flesh. "But you must understand, there is legitimately nothing we have on this. By this point, it could very well be anyone and the only info we have is that it was the First Order but the thing is, we still don't have a clue on who or WHAT the First Order is, how they operate or anything along those lines. Leone told us about their use of laser weapons, flamethrowers and batons but we were also told that almost every trooper looked alike, meaning that even pinpointing a SINGLE soldier is impossible." At that point, Mine let out a frustrated sigh, signifying that both Susanoo was right and also expressing her thoughts on the name of that organization.

The First Order, when she first heard of it, she never felt the amount of shock and awe that most of the team felt for them since not only was there an extreme lack of information regarding them but warfare in all of its history has had several cases of several parties jumping in with no affiliation to either of the two main sides only to cause havoc and destruction and even in this war, that has already happened in the form of bandits, pirates and many other seedy individuals. However that was just the basic idea and she was certain that possibly, things would change and more of the First Order would be revealed and in just a day or so, just the sight of the news was enough to make her jaw drop.

In just the span of a few days, news and announcements that came back surrounding the fall of a village was insane. Terms such as "screeching demons" and many more were making the rounds what seemed like every few minutes and the descriptions of the carnage that came back was bone-chilling to say the least and considering that all came in the span of a few hours after their initial introduction, that alone was enough to get her fearing for the worst and when also taking into account how Akame was described as fainting after hearing the name of Kylo Ren, she was certain that when the time came, it would be one hell of a fight.

"I understand Susanoo," She began with a low solemn voice. "but what are we going to do?"

"That's all up to Najenda to decide, and I'm going to figure out what she's thinking right now." Susanoo responded, his hands lowering from her shoulders before proceeding to make his way towards the door, stopping only when it was slightly cracked open. "Would you like to come out with me?" Mine simply shook her head.

"I think I would prefer to stay with Tatsumi for a little while longer." Understanding her decision, Susanoo cracked a small smile and gave her a slight nod before proceeding to make the rest of the way out. Once the door completely closed, Mine retook her seat by Tatsumi and looked down at the boy with a look that was full of concern.

"You know Tatsumi," She mentally began. "when Leone first brought you back here all those days ago, I'm not going to lie, I found her idea to be complete fucking insanity." A few seconds later, she couldn't help but let a small smirk develop at the thought of the boy's seemingly endless amounts of hilarious reactions to her actions.

"I mean, just what did she see in you? From what I could tell with what you went on and on about, you sounded just like every egotistical brat in the Capital, believing themselves to be the best only to be pissed when you find out that the world wasn't as it seemed and let's not forget that hilarious temper of yours." One particular memory that stuck out to her in that moment was how Tatsumi reacted when he went on a small "training" trip with her to the Capital in order to shop and goof off and how he reacted when he finally came to the realization that the trip actually had nothing to do with training. The way the veins bulged from his face, the red color that washed over him, it was and probably would continue to be one of the funniest sights that she had ever seen, so much so that just thinking about it caused her to let out a few small chuckles but they were just that, few and after a couple of seconds passed, she recalled another memory.

"But then, you showed me something like no other, something that I never thought was actually possible to find again in all the time I spent here." Mine stopped for a moment as the thought of what happened after Sheele's death came rushing to her mind. It was clear that Tatsumi knew about the pain she suffered but she also knew that he was not exactly the warmest of people to her so it came as a complete surprise when on the night that her death happened and she was in bed, she recalled how after a small bit had passed, she just... broke down. After trying her hardest to keep it all in, she found herself balling her eyes out which gave her that indication that the pain was just too much to bear... and then he showed up. Whether it was that he was awake that night and had nothing better to do or she just woke him. She recalled how Tatsumi that night came into her room, slowly got into her bed and wrapped her up in a gentle hug, telling her that it was okay to let it all out, a moment that has led her to this next thought.

"You were actually human. Unlike people like me who have been taught to refrain from mourning and set our focus on the mission at hand, you actually kept your friends in your memories. Hell, even when Bulat punched you that night, you still took the time to go out and mourn for Sheele, something that even her closest friend couldn't..." Feeling something was off, Mine carefully lifted her hand up to her face and gave her eye a good brush-off with her pointer finger. Looking down, she saw as the little bit of moisture remained on her flesh, causing it to glisten as it slowly trickled down to the ground. As per her training, the sniper stopped for a moment to try and hold it back which proved to be far more difficult than what she had imagined. After about a minute or so, another memory flashed by, one that she would possibly hold onto until the end of time and that was again, Tatsumi wrapping her up in that hug. At that point, she decided to just listen to what the ethereal voice was saying and just let it all out vocally.

"Even when you hurt me, even when you let your anger overwhelm your thoughts, I can tell deep down inside that you care!" She cried out, her head resting on her arms and her gaze being directed towards the floor. "Even after all I've done to you, even after making you into my personal little slave, you still cared for me! Hell, it's thanks to you that I've actually gained a new reason to fight! Tatsumi, I... I..." Right at that moment, Mine just couldn't hold it in anymore and unlike her memories, she was sure no one would be there to comfort her. Right as the tears started to flow down her face, she wasted no time and quickly but carefully cradled Tatsumi's head in her arms and buried her face into his short brown locks. For her, this was most likely going to end up as being the moment that she cried the most but unbeknownst to her, this was also going to end up as a permanent fixture in the mind of a certain green-haired man who was leaning against the door, listening in on everything.

"I don't think I've ever heard Mine get this worked up before..." Lubbock thought to himself with a sigh. "I always thought she hated the guy's guts, guess that was a wrong assumption on my part." Recalling his conversation hours earlier, Lubba slowly shifted his gaze down to his open palm and began to stare at the red fabric of his gloves. After a few more seconds, he calmly tightened it into a fist and as he began to make his way down the hall, he finally completed his thought.

"Which gives me all the more reason to try and sway Najenda's decision."

* * *

( _First Order HQ_ )

"Quickly, get these two to medbay now! Also make sure that the criminal is locked up nice and tight!" Shouted Zeroes right as he made his way into the tall room with Esdeath by his side and as for the latter, she had no words to describe just how different everything was in that throne room despite it having no real color and/or structural difference whatsoever. Comparing this to the last time she visited the palace was like comparing her feelings between a quick painless death and long agonizing torture, everything was just so much more interesting and alive. Gone was the smell of sex with its replacement being the smell of burning wood from the possible blaster training that was occurring in the adjacent rooms if the muffled screeches were to be of any indication. The women who were with Bolic were still there but now, instead of being in skimpy bikinis and bellydancer-esque dresses, they were in pure black military uniform with the First Order's emblem being proudly displayed in the patches on their shoulders. Overall, it was almost as though Kylo Ren had been preparing for her arrival and wanted to make a good first impression and if she had to be honest if the smile on her face was any indication, his mission, regardless of how unintentional, was most definitely accomplished.

"If Honest saw this, he would have a heart attack." She thought to herself as she continued to gaze at the room in complete awe whereas FN-2000, the trooper who was escorting her through it all was the complete opposite. Not in the sense that he wasn't proud of their accomplishments which he was but rather, it was due to the sense of dread that he had about the idea of meeting with Kylo Ren at this moment with no Tatsumi or girls or at the very least, girls that he wanted to see. In fact, the only thing Zeroes could think about at that moment were the several horror stories that were passed around by several veterans who mentioned how one of their comrades failed a mission only for Kylo to then stab them moments later or how whenever something didn't go his way, he would slash up whoever and whatever was nearby without a care. Despite this, he wasn't exactly looking to go back to the days of Vader who according to the few older commanders he worked with who actually lived through the age of the Empire, was not much better, the only difference being he preferred to choke his victims instead of slashing them. Trying his hardest to swallow down the fear, the two finally made it to his commander who was currently sitting at his throne with his hood pulled back and Phasma by his side.

"Have you found the girls or the beasts?" Kylo questioned the moment the trooper came into view. After taking in a deep breath, he simply shook his head.

"No sir, we're still looking." During this entire little moment, Esdeath found herself ogling the dark figure who she guessed to be Kylo Ren all over but not for his body like most women probably would but rather, his outfit and presence alone. The sleek black and silver on his helmet, his slightly tattered robes that were just casually flowing every once in a while, that deep booming mechanical voice, just everything about him just screamed pure evil... and efficiency, both being qualities that she quite appreciated.

"Really?" He began with a slight bit of sarcasm. "Then how do you explain the woman you brought here, is this just a joke to you?" Immediately, Zeroes froze in place. For most Stormtroopers back in the first few days of the First Order, Kylo thoroughly trusted them with all his heart, feeling that if the Supreme Leader saw the benefits in using recruits instead of clones then he should just accept them with open arms as well. However, this was all until FN-2187, the trooper that he had once called friend, jumped ship and assisted that one Resistance pilot in escaping which in turn led to him joining the fight against the First Order and the discovery of the last Jedi and ever since then, for anyone that wasn't Phasma or Nines, just about EVERY trooper was heavily scrutinized by the Dark Lord which included him. Feeling himself about to stammer, the trooper took in another deep breath before continuing.

"No sir," He responded with a shake of his head. "this woman actually was seeking to talk with you."

"To talk with him?" Phasma asked, her head cocked to the side. "FN-2000, how are you certain this isn't just a ploy just so that an attempt can be made on the commander's life?" Before the trooper could reply, Esdeath, with her grin intact, took one step forward.

"I respect your concern, which is why I came willingly with your troopers guiding me the whole way through." She called out. "Not only that but I also came with as you can see, absolutely no weapons and I refrained from harming any of your aforementioned soldiers, I really do have no intention to harm your commander."

"Is that so?" Kylo asked, taking a moment to lean forward in his throne. At that moment, Esdeath slowly held her hands outward.

"Tell me, do you see anything on me?" Right at that moment, the warrior began to feel a dark energy emanating from the woman, one that was incredibly vibrant and massive in size. One that reminded him a whole lot of his grandfather.

"No," He began. "but I do sense something in you, something... familiar."

"Like what?" Esdeath asked, her hands by her hips and her brow cocked out of interest.

"Like you have the Dark Side within you." He responded.

"The Dark Side? What's that?"

"Only the strongest force there is in the galaxy, one that binds every living being together which allows them to tap into a near infinite amount of energy." Despite the respect she was possessing for the Dark Lord, she had to use all her strength to refrain from chuckling right then and there... or she would've if it weren't for the dark aura she sensed right then and there, one just as pulsing as her own.

"I take it you've never heard of the Dark Side?" He asked to which Esdeath shook her head.

"I've never considered the idea of any mystical force binding everything together nor have I ever thought of it to be stronger than any Imperial Arms. The thought never occurred to me." Immediately, Kylo's head cocked to the side.

"Imperial Arms?" Smirking, the general kept her gaze locked on him.

"Oh don't tell me you haven't heard of Imperial Arms. They're only some of the strongest known weapons to ever have existed on this world, so strong in fact that only a select few can wield them." Kylo began to lightly grasp his chin, the idea of a weapon like this peaking his interest... while also sounding very familiar though he couldn't quite put his finger on what it exactly was.

"Interesting," He thought to himself before lowering his hand and beginning to speak once more. "well then, thank you for the information miss..." At that moment, the woman's eyes began to slightly widen right as she remembered that one missing detail.

"Sorry about that," She began before leaning into an honorable bow. "I am Esdeath, general of the Empire, commander of an elite strike-force known as the Jaegers. It's truthfully an honor to meet you Kylo Ren."

"You've heard of me before?" Kylo asked, his head on a slight tilt.

"Your exploits have been heard all throughout the Capital." She began. "Prime Minister Honest has especially taken notice of the news about how you've been destroying villages that actually support the Empire."

"My apologies," He said, his tone having a degree of falseness to it. "but we're hunting for someone. Whoever and whatever we destroy is none of our concern. If you're here to simply complain about that then you are useless to me."

"I can definitely see that." Esdeath began. "But you see, I wasn't sent here by Honest."

"Then what is it that you want?" Kylo questioned. At that point, the general couldn't help but let a small smirk show through.

"Simple, I believe that I can provide assistance."

"Assistance?" Kylo asked. "You actually believe we need help? Please don't humor me general, the First Order is large enough to capture an entire planet, I don't see how any of the useless creatures on this planet can help u-" The general immediately stomped her foot down on the ground and the Dark Lord watched with awe with how in just a few seconds, a small pillar of ice came sprouting out of the nicely polished floors with ease.

"I can assure you Lord Ren, not all of us are useless." If she didn't have his interest then, she certainly had it now. In all his countless visits to several different worlds and all the mystical elements that he had seen, never in his entire life had he ever bared witness to something like that.

"Alright then," Kylo began after a long bout of silence. "so what's the catch? You don't seem like the person to come in here without a catch." Smirking, the general crossed her arms.

"You're a smart guy, you know that?"

"Considering I'm usually surrounded by incompetent fools then yes, I guess you can say that. But enough about that, tell me the catch."

"Alright then," Esdeath began after taking in a nice long breath. "well you see... I'm looking for something as well. Something... valuable."

"If you're looking for money then I'm sorry to report that the First Order doesn't pay out credits." Phasma cut in, only to receive a simple hand gesture by Ren for her to step back, followed up by a gesture for the general to continue.

"It's not that, you see, I'm looking for a boy." Kylo gave a small jerk in his seat. Of course, there was always the possibility that she was talking about someone completely different but overall, it seemed just so oddly coincidental, so much so that he'd be hard-pressed to find if the Force wasn't trying to tell him something.

"A boy?" Kylo asked.

"Yes, a boy." She responded. "A very special boy I might add."

"Have you seen him?" Esdeath nodded.

"Actually yes I have, why do you ask?"

"No particular reason." Ren responded as he began to lean in closer. "Tell me, what does this boy look like exactly?"

"Well, he has short brown hair, an average thin build, green eyes, a nice bulky sword and he usually wears a jacket of some kind that's usually white." At that moment, the Dark Lord began to feel like the description was oddly... familiar to him and thought back to what the elder mentioned about there being a boy that used to live there. Not wanting to jump to conclusions, Kylo moved on.

"Tell me, did you ever learn this boy's name?" As the thought of him came rushing back through her memories, the general couldn't help but develop a small blush.

"Yes..." She began as her smirk began to grow even wider. "but I'm guessing you already know his name, don't you?" Behind the mask, Kylo could feel as his eyes widened, the outside representation being his head jolting upward which the general took note of.

"How did you..."

"I could tell from just how you asked the question." She responded. "So tell me, why do you exactly seek Tatsumi?" Shaking himself free, the Dark Lord regained his composure with ease.

"I believe he might be my key to finding the girls I'm looking for." He responded with clasped hands. "Also ever since I've heard his name, I've been feeling this dark presence in the Force, one that's filled with... rage and sorrow and if that belongs to him, then most likely he could be of use to me. So why do you want him?" Immediately, the general looked down towards her feet as her hand flattened against her chest.

"Simple, he took my heart." She explained. "Ever since I saw him that day at a tournament we held, I've never been able to get him out of my mind and it's driving me mad."

"You're... in love?" The general nodded to which Kylo simply responded by sitting back in his seat. "Interesting... but I can tell that isn't the only reason you came here, just from the way you were admiring everything, I could tell something else was afoot so what is it?" With that in mind, Esdeath looked back towards Kylo, her expression far more serious.

"As a matter of fact, there is more to this manner and that involves the state of our Empire." Esdeath began.

"What about it?" The Dark Lord questioned, his hands still tightly clasped together. "And why should I care?"

"You're absolutely right why should you care about the Empire? I'm not giving you reasons about why you should care about the Empire but rather, I'm giving you more reasons as to why you should care more about the First Order." His interest peaked once again, the Dark Lord leaned forward once more, his head resting against his hand.

"I don't think I follow but I'm interested." Grinning, the general continued onward.

"You see Kylo, I've been completely impressed so far with how quickly and efficiently you've been taking out villages left and right, without even a shred of hassle. From just the few observations that I've made, I can tell already that you conduct this operation with care and efficiency unlike no other and the fact that all of this was done in the span of a day is STAGGERING to say the least... and I wish I could say the same for the Empire."

"Wait?" He began. "You willingly came out here to commit treason against your own army?" Esdeath couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

"Now what made you jump to that conclusion, I haven't even finished. Anyway, as I've mentioned before, we are being lead around by Prime Minister Honest who currently 'works' for our emperor or should I say, he orders around a child that he's molding into an emperor."

"That sounds completely ridiculous." Phasma interjected. "There is no way that anyone would allow that!"

"Well apparently, Honest did allow that. Now initially, I did feel that the Prime Minister's rule has certainly left us in great standing. With a massive army to rely on, skilled warriors and a complete sense of power, we were made to be unstoppable."

"So what changed?" Kylo asked. At that point Esdeath's voice began to show clear signs of frustration that he couldn't tell if it was meant for him or the subject in question.

"Simple, I woke up..." She began. "I guess I've known from the very beginning really. After several long years of ruling the Capital, it has come to my attention that in his old age, the man has simply lost all of what made him competent in the first place. His decision-making? It's sloppy. The fact that he called me in to deal with his issues? It shows that he's too lazy to deal with it himself. His son? A wild card that he exercises ZERO caution when it comes to watching him. Not to mention he also is far too arrogant for his own good. It's thanks to him that I feel we're losing against that group Night Raid."

"Sounds like you're dealing with the same issues that plagued the Galactic Empire."

"Well then," The general began as she slowly made her way towards the Dark Lord. "I guess that means we understand each other. As you can hopefully tell Kylo Ren, I'm not here to attack you nor am I here to commit treason. My heart is still devoted to the Empire and it's simply my opinion that by this point, Honest needs to be ejected and a new leader needs to take his place and raise the Capital back up from the ashes and I think you know who I'm referring to."

"Me?" Kylo asked, one hand pointing towards himself. "You must be joking."

"Oh but I'm not." She replied with a smile. "So Kylo Ren, in exchange for letting me assist you. I will help you find Tatsumi and those girls AND I will also be helping you to gain the position of power you need to take it all over. So what do you say?" Right then and there, the general held her hand out towards him, her smile filled with hope. Bringing one hand to his chin, Kylo already was somewhat weary about the whole thing, granted she did make a good point and she could be a major help but she also had the possibility of being a backstabber later on. However, it was one memory that changed his mind.

"Lord Vader was very direct and clear in the deals he made because he wanted to give those people that sense of trust. Master of the Knights of Ren, remember that if put into a situation like this, it doesn't matter if that person is completely truthful or not, just know that the Force fills your body while that person doesn't have that luxury." Snoke's voice sounded off within him. After a few more seconds of thought, Kylo gave a brief nod and took Esdeath's hand before proceeding to politely shake it.

"You've got yourself a deal." The Dark Lord responded. "However, I will need to perform a few tests, to see if you're truthfully loyal to the cause." Surprisingly enough, the general simply nodded.

"I'll do whatever you want me to do, what is it you request of me?"

"The troopers recently brought in who they claim to be a war criminal and if I have to guess, they believe him to be the one who has been interfering with our operation, would you like to assist me in... extracting information?" Realizing exactly who he meant, Esdeath couldn't have nodded any faster.

"Lead the way." With that said and done, the two began to make their way down the right side of the room with the Dark Lord stopping to signal for Zeroes to follow them along which he did so without hesitation, grabbing a baton along the way to make sure he was prepared. And with this one action, it marked the very beginning of one truthfully deadly alliance.

The union between the ice queen and the Dark Side.


	9. Chapter 9

( _Night Raid HQ_ )

For someone who so far had dealt with discovering the mangled bodies of his friends, having two comrades murdered, his village destroyed and was brutally humiliated by an armored trooper who didn't wield any sort of Imperial Arms, it was fair to say that Tatsumi was not exactly in the best state both physically and emotionally and honestly, no one who had to deal with this beforehand would be able to blame him. Looking as though he was coming up on at least 16 or 17, Tatsumi was still a guy who had a bit of growing to do before he could settle into being that hardened warrior that his teammates expected him to become and a little while longer to accept this whole role that he was essentially forced into by the woman who conned him out of his cash all those days ago.

To think that one moment, that one simple moment would lead him to his family being murdered, becoming an assassin to now being on what he assumed was his death-bed was something that the boy never would've been able to fathom in all his life and honestly, how could anyone think that? Life is known for offering strange moments and has led to several average civilians being thrust into more important roles but something like this? It almost seemed like it was ripped straight out of a five-year old's handbook which is filled with stories that starred themselves as a hero without flaws. But it happened to the boy anyway and despite having a few hours now, he still hadn't quite come to terms with it. At the very least, he finally was able to escape into that long awaited peaceful slumber that he never could quite get into from the very moment he got involved with this whole mess.

Laying flat against his back with eyes completely closed, mouth slightly open and arms lifelessly draped along the sides, the boy was currently letting out a series of peaceful snores with the only movement being the slight in-and-out motion of his chest from the deep breaths he was taking in. The room was very much his usual bedroom though surprisingly, no one was around him. No Mine, no Akame, the boy was just left in peace and to his own matters which didn't seem like much of an issue at least, for now. Several moments later, a low whispery tone was heard in Tatsumi's ear, the voice being just loud enough to disturb him and for him to recognize it as the voice of Akame.

"You promised!" Right then and there, almost as if it had went off like a set of dominoes, following the voice was the room slowly starting to darken with the colors slowly being drained as Tatsumi began to toss and turn in response right as a few other voices began, some recognizable while others weren't.

"Shut up!"

"The Empire will prevail, you will surrender!"

"Tatsumi please..."

"There is no way I will date someone as cold and monstrous as you!" After several minutes of hearing this, the boy's tossing became all the more violent, the darkening mattress being squished at every moment and with how aggressive the motions were, it was almost as though he was trying to purposefully destroy his sleeping quarters and it only got worse as the voices continued with them this time being far less recognizable.

"Fear is power."

"The hate gives you strength."

"The darkness is the path to tranquility." Once the last bit of the room was enveloped, the voices seemed to finally halt, leaving nothing but dead air and the light breaths of the boy which seemed far more hasty in comparison to moments before, as if the silence did nothing to calm his nerves. A few moments later, Tatsumi felt as his body suddenly began to heat and tense up in a similar fashion to how he was in battle or almost in the same fashion as if there was someone present in the room with him... and this usually came when there was a particularly dark presence nearby. After a few more minutes, another voice was heard but unlike the whispers of before, this had a far more throaty, gravelly sound to it along with something that sounded like pure, unrestrained anger.

"Tatsumi." At that moment the boy began to slowly open his eyes, only to have that process speed up once a massive, balding, pale scarred face came into view, one that while unrecognizable to him, it still filled his very being with nothing but pure, unadulterated fear. which the figure seemed to sense as the face seemed to soften some.

"Do not worry, I sense it within you." Immediately beginning to back up against the headboard, the boy kept his gaze locked on the figure.

"W-Who are you and how do you k-k-know my name?" He asked rather shakily, his hands desperately looking for his sword but to no avail.

"My physical form does not know," The figure began as it proceeded to lean forward. "but rather, the Dark Side does."

"T-The Dark Side? Wha-What are you..."

"Silence!" The figure growled, causing Tatsumi to jump a bit, the action seeming to bring a small smile to the former's scarred, twisted face as it began to lower one bony hand towards him. "There has been an awakening..." Immediately, Tatsumi's eyes widened even more.

"A-An awakening? Where?" He asked, still scared as ever. Slowly, the scarred monstrosity began to lightly prod the boy's chest, the feeling of the flesh being oddly cold and lifeless to the latter.

"Within you." It began. "Throughout all the ages, I never thought I would see a specimen like you so young, so skilled, so... hate-filled. And yet you continuously deny that energy a chance to flow within you." Throughout the whole ordeal, the boy was too shaken to even comprehend what was going on. It didn't matter to him that he was able to move his limbs without a hassle, that his room was now completely enveloped in darkness or even that his weapons were gone. No, all his attention was purely being directed to the massive bony creature and just how much it frightened him when he knew that it shouldn't.

Hell, the thing didn't even look like much on the surface with its thin complexion, black robes and scarred face. In fact, it looked as though one simple shot to the face would be all that's needed to take it down. When compared to the Danger Beasts, it was nothing, when compared to Esdeath, it was nothing. Hell, even the Stormtrooper he faced looked far more threatening than the beast. But it wasn't the looks that incited the fear, it was just the presence it commanded. Just by how close they were, their voice and their mannerisms, it felt... ancient, raw, like this was a being who has been hiding for centuries on end, planning for this very moment. Before he could even give this anymore thought, the figure pressed their pointer behind their thumb and edged it towards him all while their face leaned in to the point where not only could he feel his warm breath over his body and get a good look at his dark yellowed eyes, their voice was so loud that it almost seemed to rattle his insides.

"It's calling to you," It began. Right then and there, Tatsumi could feel his heart pounding in his chest, like it was wanting to burst free from its confines and get away from it all. His palms, sweating like crazy and the same went for his brow. His legs, quaking at a consistently rapid pace. His soul, it felt as though that it was slowly being stabbed into by the monster's gaze. Finally after what seemed like several long hours, the figure finished up. "just let it in..." With that final word and before he could realize it, Tatsumi felt as with all its might, the figure flicked him up and over the bed, right as the sound of what seemed like hissing energy echoed to life only to be drowned out by his screams. Over time, everything seemed to happen in slow motion once the beast's quickly shrinking face soon disappeared from view. Looking around him, he saw several images of various sequences and faces he never recognized with one looking similarly pale to the monster up above though they appeared to have a respirator present. One scene showcased a hooded man with a mask that had nothing but a simple visor along with body armor and what looked to be a red energy blade stabbing through a robed figure. Right then and there, more voices began to play out with some seeming to be broken up.

"Good is but a point of view..."

"...the gambles of the darkness are all risk.. and high reward..."

"Let their losses fuel your desire..."

"A democracy is only as strong as the people who comprise it."

"Your friends have deceived you into believing this farce..." Right then and there, Tatsumi finally hit the ground with a loud "THUD!", the pain rippling throughout his body like waves in a body of water.

"Damn it!" Tatsumi grunted as he proceeded to slowly raise himself off the ground, stopping to notice the single cut on his head which upon just one rub, drenched almost his entire palm in blood. With a frustrated sigh, the boy immediately took a fistful of his jacket and was ready to pull when he heard a loud familiar scream.

"SHEELE!" Almost immediately, his head perked up.

"Mine?" He questioned.

"AAAGGGHH!" Despite the situation being strange enough as is, the boy felt the adrenaline beginning to pump through his body and through pure instinct, he burst off into a run towards the direction of the voice, using only his ears as his guide due to everything still being pitch black. After a little while of running and hearing more screams, the world around him started to illuminate some, revealing leaves, branches, dirt and stars which greatly confused the boy. Regardless, he just kept pushing forward right as the throaty voice began once again.

"Your friends have betrayed you." A few seconds later, Tatsumi finally caught a glimpse of HQ and began to speed up his pace but just as he was about to reach it, his vision was overwhelmed by the sight of a massive fist, one almost as big as his head, crashing directly into his skull. The pain that rippled throughout his body right then was excruciating with his jaw feeling almost as though it was about to shatter which was... familiar in some way. Landing on the ground in a small puddle of his own blood, he wiped his mouth with the side of his fist and after staring for a few moments, a familiar voice began to playback, one that brought memories back rushing in full force.

"Don't embarrass yourself Tatsumi!" Bulat shouted, his anger clearly being without restraint. "You're losing your control! You knew that this would happen from the very moment you joined us! Didn't we tell you that any one of us could die at any time?!" This moment, this very moment was something that changed his perception of Night Raid for what he assumed was going to be all eternity. Looking up into his "friend's" face, he saw how his eyes were ripe with fury, how the veins bulged from his hands and head. For the longest time, he remembered how he found himself in denial for the longest of times after this.

All the way before that moment, Bulat was like an older brother to him. He was also someone who was loud, bombastic and very much full of energy to the point he seemed intoxicated by it. But he also had what he considered to be one of the largest hearts in existence. To him, it didn't matter what it was whether he was being hit on by the guy, sparring or if they were just kicking back, Bulat was a man with a fiery passion and one he always took inspiration from in order to push onward in his battle for a peaceful world.

However, it was this moment that changed everything completely. While he was depressed by his death and eventually he did apologize for decking him in the face, from that point on, his perception of Night Raid had completely changed and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't put his finger on what it was exactly. Back then, he viewed Night Raid as a team of what one would consider anti-heroes. Sure what they did to their enemies was absolutely HORRIFIC and not everyone was exactly the friendliest to him but at the very least, it was all for a great cause and sometimes, one has to go to those extreme lengths in the fight for peace and tranquility. However, he was also taught to remember every comrade who fell in battle and that he should make sure they wouldn't die in vain... something that Night Raid NEVER seemed to believe in.

It was why he was so shocked to see Akame break down like she did back when he had that chat with her about Sheele's death as it showed that most of the people behind this crew were human, that they had thoughts, feelings, goals and ambitions. It showed that they weren't just fighting out of a lust for warfare but rather it was for something that the ENTIRE planet desired for... and then he thought back to this moment and what Chelsea said and he feels like a fool for even daring to sympathize with them. Looking around, he saw the usual faces of his comrades, looking at the whole ordeal with shock and sadness while Najenda's face... was blank which by that point, he found just plain typical. Looking around for a little while longer though, he saw the pale figure once more, standing right next to Bulat.

"Your friend wants you to ignore your pain, your suffering, not solve it. How does that make you feel?" The figure's voice seemed far calmer than before and oddly fatherly in the way that it was presented. Despite that, it certainly was working since a few moments later, Tatsumi began to stand back up. Vision or not, he was not going to let the man talk down to him like this. However, just as he was about to begin, he watched as Bulat's face suddenly twisted in pain and as the scene around him turned to black with the rest of the members fading from sight and mind.

"What the..." Before he could finish, he heard Bulat's voice cry out once more. Looking over, he saw as the scene around them began to change into something far more familiar and as the man was on one knee, his teeth grit and hand gripping his side.

"You injected yourself with poison! Damn you!" Before he could rush over to help him, a familiar voice sounded off behind him and it was here when the scene began to deviate since unlike what actually happened, General Liver was standing perfectly straight, his only imperfection being a small stream of blood dropping from his lips. Not only that but much to his horror, the rest of the Three Beasts were all standing alongside him though what was horrifying was that all of them clearly had the injuries that they sustained in the actual fight with the big brute looking as though he was two halves hastily stuck together and that one kid had completely whited out eyes, like he had when he used Incursio for the first time.

"It wasn't exactly easy." Began Liver right as he set his hands behind his back. "But you know what they say. You must exhaust every possible option to win a battle." If Tatsumi had to rank his greatest failures for the next three years to come, the loss of Sheele and Bulat would be ranking first every single time. To him, he should've been the one to receive the poison, he should've been the one to duel Seryu, he should've took his chance to try and kill the Jaegers when he had it and it was thanks to him ignoring these that Night Raid was in the state that it was. Dropping to his knees, he felt the tears beginning to pour from his face.

"Please..." He pleaded. "no more. Leave me in peace!"

"Not a chance little boy." A growl sounded off, causing Tatsumi to look up, only to see the brute in all of his truthfully messed up glory with fresh blood still dripping down from the neat red line that went perfectly down the middle, like he really was someone who was hastily stuck together. "I bet my experience points won't go up that much but honestly, I think just the pleasure that will come from killing you is good enough!" With that said, the man lifted his massive axe over his head, his sadistic grin being as wide as ever with Tatsumi only able to look up with fearful anticipation at the inevitable fate that was about to bestow itself upon him. The clock ticked down at an agonizingly slow pace, the only movements being the twitching of the brute's arms and the tears that dropped down to the wooden floor. After a little while longer, the man finally was ready.

"Say goodni-AGGH!" The scenery around him once again changed to a pitch black before seconds later being lit up to reveal a narrow hallway with several white lights lining it and this all came right as a red hot blade pulsating with energy came charging right through the blonde's chest, causing him to desperately gasp for air. Despite how this would be mainly pleasant for some, Tatsumi just found himself even more afraid by how this man, this once very sadistic, fearless monstrosity, went from cackling about his death to a frail, fearful bag of flesh who he watched as the life rapidly drained from his eyes and before he knew it, seconds later, the man's head drooped forward right as the eyes shut tight which would've been worrisome enough if it weren't for the slight hint of shimmering black that seemed to poke out from behind him. Slowly backing away, the boy wondered what exactly was going to happen next when suddenly, the red blade disappeared, leaving the body to slowly wobble for a few moments before falling to its knees, revealing a man unlike any he had ever seen in his entire life.

"All too easy." A deep booming voice sounded off right as the corpse finally fell flat on his face, leaving Tatsumi to get a good look at the figure in front of him. Dressed in dark robes, shimmering black armor and wielding what looked to be a red laser sword, the man who stood before him certainly commanded a lot of attention with just his physique which had just the right amount of bulk and height that would make any average person do a double take towards... before they were then filled with fright by the sound of his breathing. That low raspy breath, the control panel that remained lit up the whole way through and that booming voice that had a slight electronic sound to it. To him, he honestly couldn't tell if this was man, weapon or machine he was looking at. Not only that but there was also the manner of the aura he was giving off.

Being one of the few people to apparently ever get so close to Esdeath without dying, he already had firsthand experience with what a powerful dark aura felt like... which is what made it all the more frightening when he found himself PREFERRING the company of someone like her compared to this man. Before he could ponder over it any longer, the figure spoke out once more.

"Don't be afraid young one." He began with a hint of falseness. "You're safe now."

"W-W-Where am I and who are you?" Tatsumi questioned, clearly not falling for it. With a few movements, the figure pressed what looked to be a small button on his weapon and immediately, the blade retracted into the hilt. Then, in a move that shocked the boy, he let his grip on the hilt loosen and right there, he watched as the weapon was suspended in midair before proceeding to slowly move towards and hook onto his belt and soon after, he set his hands at his hips.

"That's pointless to know." He began. "But if you must know my name, I am the one known by the Force as Darth..." Right then and there, the man seemed to take a moment to let himself breathe and coincidentally, it was right here where Tatsumi could feel himself actually LOSING air and with how the whole scene was arranged, it was like the figure was somehow leeching off of his own oxygen. After a few moments of holding it in, he finally let out the last part of his name.

"Vader." Tatsumi felt as a huge wave of fright overtook him right at that moment, despite never hearing of that name, he could already tell that it had been associated with some of the most despicable crimes ever committed and yet he didn't know what those actually were. Despite that, Tatsumi was just about to continue onward when the dark figure beat him to it.

"And yes, I know you," Vader began. "the Force knows all living beings."

"What the hell is the Force?" Tatsumi questioned. "Why do I keep hearing about it? Is it a weapon?" At that moment, Vader seemed to let out what seemed to be his version of a chuckle though it was very, VERY brief.

"I expected as much from a youngling, the Force is not a physical object you can touch. It is a source of energy that exists inside every living being there is, even you possess that power." Having just gotten back up to his feet at that moment, the boy was feeling both his anger and his curiosity beginning to rise.

"What do you mean?" He questioned. "There's no such thing as a power that connects everything!"

"Oh but there is," The Dark Lord began. "and it is far greater than any blaster, sword or fist and as much as you would like to deny it, you know in your heart that it is all true."

"Even if it was true, hokey beliefs like that are no match for true skill." The boy responded, his confidence slowly building up.

"Strange, you speak with the tongue of a smuggler despite how much my presence... worries you."

"I've had practice against freaks like y-" Before he could finish, Tatsumi watched as the man held out his hand in a gripping motion and right then and there, he felt as his windpipe pinched shut, leaving him to gasp helplessly for air and when he looked down, he saw as his feet were dangling a few feet away from the ground.

"This should fix everything." A few seconds later, Darth jerked his hand to the side, the boy feeling as his windpipe was released... only for that relief to be replaced with the familiar rippling sensation of pain when his body collided with the metal wall. His actions not showing a single hint of care for the boy's pain, Vader continued on.

"I can feel your anger within you." He began.

"That's to be expected when you're in the presence of a freak with a ma-" Suddenly, the boy felt himself being pulled forward, his body flying through the air for a few moments before his neck found a nice spot in Vader's firm grip and as he desperately tried to pull himself free from that, the Dark Lord just continued on, almost as though the whole situation never even happened.

"I sense... conflict within you. A very normal sensation, even the Jedi have suffered through it."

"J-Jedi? What the hell are you..."

"I'm only repeating the knowledge my master gave me... hmm... your energy seems most familiar." Tatsumi's eyes widened.

"Energy wha..."

"Your presence, it feels very familiar to what I felt on Rhen Var."

"Rhen... Var? What are you going on about?"

"You possess this... natural strength in the Force, like him..."

"Like who?! TELL ME DAMN IT!"

"Yes... this is exactly the kind of passion he possessed, the confidence he used. Let it all out, you're finally getting it."

"Shut up!" This continued on for several minutes and as it did, Vader calmly unhooked his saber from his belt, his thumb lightly caressing the button.

"I feel the Force flowing through you now, please do not try to fight me, it is worthless t-" Right before Vader could finish, the boy delivered one solid punch to the control panel, causing his grip to loosen. Once he dropped to the ground, he watched as the intimidating dark warrior went from blabbering on about possible relations to letting out several strained coughs and despite how much it bothered him, Tatsumi felt... oddly ashamed of himself for doing it, like he actually wanted to learn more about this so-called Force but instead, he just injured the man right as he possibly was going to get to those bits. Before he could focus on that for much longer, the boy watched as the Dark Lord with both hands, grabbed hold of the top portion of his helmet and the next time he spoke, his voice sounded eerily familiar.

"Perhaps, I should just show you." After a few more seconds, the dome came loose with a low hissing noise and as he raised it, he saw a head full of brown hair, HIS brown hair.

Almost immediately, the boy's confidence went from a burning fire to a low whimper with fear taking its place. Just as Vader was reaching for the final portion of his mask, Tatsumi felt as his defenses dropped which led him to doing the one thing every human is a natural at. He took in a deep breath and a few moments later, he let out a loud fearful scream.

And just like that, the scene faded to black once more, only to flash a bright red and right then and there, Tatsumi's eyes were greeted by the face of a tearful sniper.

"M-Mine, what are y-" Before he could question it, the girl immediately wrapped her arms around his bandaged head.

"Don't scare me like that again!" Mine cried out. "You may not know it but we need you, I need you!" As she continued to essentially pour her heart out to him, Tatsumi found himself feeling rather odd as a result of the whole scenario. He expected some to be worried about him, that was for sure but just the idea of Mine, the one who actually made him carry her bags back when he first joined Night Raid and has consistently been teasing and insulting him, being the one to have this major breakdown, the whole experience was just odd... but he didn't care. Despite the pain he felt which thankfully had subsided a whole lot since then, the warrior slowly began to wrap the sniper up in a hug.

"Shhh... it's okay Mine," He reassured, lightly caressing the back of her head. "just let it o-"

"Well look who's up!" Immediately, the two turned towards the entrance to the room to see a very happy Lubbock who was making his way towards him with Mine being... less than pleased and going right back into a familiar mode.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Tatsumi nearly died, why are you acting so cheery about it?!" Mine growled, her face as red as a beet which Tatsumi couldn't help but smile at. Immediately, Lubba held up two hands in a "take it easy" motion.

"Relax a little will you?" He asked in his usual carefree manner. "I just thought I would make Tatsumi laugh a little, after all we can't let this ENTIRE situation depress us." At that point, the boy couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. If there was one person he could always count on to make him feel better or give him a good laugh, it was definitely the dude with the threads.

"Thanks Lub." He said with a smile which the man returned with ease.

"Don't mention it," Right there, he took notice of the boy's patched face and began to smirk. "would you look at that. You're healing up better than what I anticipated, you look like you can rip the arms right off of a Danger Beast!"

"I hope he's strong enough for that." Immediately everyone turned their attention back towards the entrance of the room and upon his sight being filled with the familiar silver hair and eyepatch, Lubbock couldn't help but let out a whispered curse once he noticed Tatsumi's face beginning to go grim while Mine was left a little surprised.

"Boss! Are you checking up on Tatsumi?" Mine asked to which Najenda just shook her head.

"I think you've done enough of that," She began after taking a puff of her smoke. "I'm here to talk with h-"

"Let me guess, you're pissed about me going off to do something about the First Order, aren't you?" Tatsumi interjected, leaving Najenda to stare at him with frustration.

"Oh Jesus here we go." Lubbock muttered to himself right as his palm met his face.

"If by doing something you mean being completely reckless then ys, I'm more than a little peeved about it." She responded.

"Tatsumi what you did was completely stupid, you could've gotten yourself killed." Chelsea cut in with hands on her hips.

"So what if I do?" He replied with a scoff. "At least I'd be going out trying to make a difference, unlike you who only cares about the Empire."

"Tatsumi mind your tongue!" Najenda demanded. "You know you're one of our most valuable members, acting like this isn't going to bring your friends back."

"So is that all we are to you? Possessions?"

"Come on Tatsumi, you know the commander doesn't mean th-"

"If we let our emotions get the better of us then there will be no progression!" Najenda cut off. "It has been several days since those deaths and not once have you defied me before, why are you doing it now?"

"Is that what you call it? Defiance? You call showcasing humanity DEFIANCE?!"

"Tatsumi en-"

"I call going out on a SUICIDE mission defiance!"

"You call that a suicide mission?!" Tatsumi growled. "Excuse me for actually REELING about the destruction of my village!"

"Mind your tone! If you had died right then and there, our fight will be all the more difficu-"

"And what about the loss of MY friends?! Hasn't that made the fight more difficult?!"

"Tatsumi, relax yourse-"

"Without you, we wouldn't have gotten as far as we did!" The boss yelled. "Without you, we wouldn't have been able to nail the Three Beasts."

"BULAT nailed the Three Beasts!"

"Tatsumi, I beg of y-" Chelsea was cut off once again by another bout of angry ranting.

"What about all that talk about how you were going to dedicate yourself to this life, you knew EXACTLY what you were getting int-"

"I didn't know you were going to be a bunch of emotionless shitheads who didn't care about humanity!" Right then and there, the room let out a collective gasp with the only one who didn't being Najenda who after a few seconds was just about to open her mouth when Tatsumi cut her off, jerking himself up right in his bed.

"I joined not because I wanted to, but because I was FORCED to! I wanted to take vengeance for my best friends who were murdered by all this madness! Through that, I met and lost several MORE! Sheele, Bulat, I lost them all thanks to this Empire and yet you have the absolute fucking gall come in here and tell me that I'm acting out of line when really, you're still just pissed about the fact that I'm not the emotionless killing machine you wanted!"

"That is not true and you know i-"

"Oh really Najenda? It ISN'T true?! You expect me to pretend that you caring about the mission more than our lives ISN'T true?!"

"Tatsumi, you have to rel-" Before Chelsea, could finish. Tatsumi effectively just... blew up.

"SHUT UP! I don't need to hear crap from the exact same person who told me that my friends were WORTHLESS!"

"Tatsumi," Leone cut in. "she lost teammates beforehand, she's just being hone-"

"Being a heartless bitch is NOT honest!"

"Tatsumi, you will stand down!" Najenda demanded.

"That's your response to every thing isn't it?" Tatsumi began with a low tone. "Someone has a complaint, stand down. Someone is frustrated, stand down. Someone is showing actual emotion, stand the fuck down! You're not used to that are you?"

"Tatsumi..." Najenda began through grit teeth.

"Oh don't act like this isn't the truth. When Sheele died, I chalked it up to you just thinking more about us as a whole. When Bulat died, I thought the same thing but now... now that I've gone out and actually fought a member of that one group, that ONE group who murdered my family! I realize now that you don't give a single shit about if any one of us dies."

"Tatsumi..."

"You've never actually had an attachment to one of us."

"Tatsumi..."

"All you care about is satisfying that little grudge with Esdeath and the mission itself. You've had to deal with troopers falling back whenever they piss you off ever so slightly and expect me to behave like a good little soldier." Right then and there before Najenda could speak, Tatsumi pulled himself out of bed, wincing ever so slightly from the pain as he slowly grabbed his sword. "Well excuse me for not being such a cold-hearted bitch." With that final word, Tatsumi calmly made his way out the door, lightly shoving Akame to the side right before he proceeded to slam the thing shut. At that point, never had anyone seen Najenda so infuriated before in all their lives and the one who was taking it hardest was the green-haired man standing off to the side since he knew now what he had to do.

A few moments later and without saying a single word, Najenda turned around and began to make her way out the door, all the while lighting up a small cigarette with the members who followed out being Susanoo, Chelsea and Leone with the two who didn't being left to stare at Lubbock, who had quite the concerned look on his face, ESPECIALLY when the door slammed shut.

"What's going on with her?" Mine asked. "Tatsumi got all the scolding he needed by us already, what did she exactly expect?"

"From what I can tell, it's like she's looking to get rid of him." Akame inferred.

"Actually, you're not far off with that." Lubbock began with a sigh, both members immediately snapping their gaze towards him.

"What do you mean?" Mine asked before having her eyes widen with realization. "Oh that's right, you had that private chat with the boss didn't you?" Lub just gave her a small nod.

"Well then," Akame began. "what did she tell you?" Lubba said nothing, keeping his mouth shut for what felt like several minutes after she said that.

"Lubba what did Najenda tell you?" Mine asked, only to still receive no answer. If only things hadn't come down to that. If this was a generic soldier or even Tatsumi back in the early days of his time at Night Raid, NO one would've given a single damn about it all but now that the boy has gotten acquainted with just about EVERY member including him, telling anyone about what was meant to be this private thing was either going to be his or her death sentence or worse. However, he was the one who brought it up and overall, his conscience would constantly be getting back at him with migraines if he didn't say anything so finally after several long minutes and after muttering a curse to himself, he looked towards Akame.

"Before I tell you, you must lock that door." He ordered, causing Mine's brow to raise.

"Why is that?" As Akame was doing what she was told, Lubba turned towards the sniper.

"Because what I'm about to tell you is something that I expect to be kept a secret between us and us alone." He began. "I don't want anyone getting hurt over all this." Despite feeling like she was still being kept in the dark, Mine decided against pushing on and just gave him a nod, signaling that she understood. Afterward, the warrior took in a long hard breath and held it in for several seconds, almost as though he was preparing to die after all this which especially showed when he let it out.

"The subject, that me and Najenda were discussing about." The two immediately gave an attentive nod. "Well, we were talking a bit about Tatsumi, she was very angry about what he said to you and Chelsea back there."

"Well that was to be expected," Mine responded. "after all it was VERY out of his character."

"Yeah well, it's a bit more complicated than that. You guys remember how he was when he returned without Bulat?" The two began to solemnly look down to the ground as the image of the boy's tearful face flooded their memories, if Sheele's death made everyone feel depressed then the best way to describe Bulat's death was that everyone felt suicidal and due to him being a usual source of encouragement, it took a little while for the team to accept that they would have to fight on without him. After a few more seconds, they gave him another attentive nod.

"Well... Najenda took note of all that and has noticed that Tatsumi... hasn't been getting any better since that time." Lubbock continued on, all while nervously twiddling his thumbs.

"So Najenda was expressing how she thinks Tatsumi's too emotional about this?" Mine asked, receiving an accepting nod from Lubba. "Well what the hell does she expect? He's still fairly young."

"That's what I told her but it's not just that. You see Najenda mentioned to me that she's considering... that she's considering..."

"She's considering what?" Akame questioned, her arms crossed, intently staring at the man who had more than a little sweat pouring down his face and palms. The moment of truth was here, the time to reveal everything and yet he still couldn't get the words out.

"Come on, spit it out." Mine demanded. After several more minutes, the warrior took in another nice long breath and held it for a few more seconds before proceeding to continue on.

"She mentioned that if Tatsumi doesn't show improvement anytime soon..." Stopping himself, he looked around to see the two staring attentively which let him know that there was absolutely no way he was getting out of this. With a low sigh, he continued on.

"She's considering the possibility of 'silencing' him if you know what I mean." At first, it seemed as though everything was about to go just fine since both Mine and Akame were left a little puzzled. However, this little moment of relief didn't last long when Mine's eyes widened, signaling that she finally got it.

"She suggested WHAT?!" Lubba gave her a nod.

"Trust me, I had that exact reaction, I'm not thrilled about it eith-what are you doing?" Lubba stopped himself to notice that Mine was already making her way towards her door not with dainty little taps of her feet but with angry stomps.

"I'm going to give her a piece of my mind about th-" Giving Akame a quick hand gesture, the assassin, despite her own shock, quickly grabbed hold of the sniper and pulled her back, all the while she continued to whine.

"Hey! Let go! It's not your f-"

"I don't think you realize the severity of this situation!" Lubbock said with a stern voice. "I've tried my best to sway her decision but it didn't work. The only thing I was able to work out was that she at the very least gave Tatsumi a few days to prove himself."

"But he's a friend," Mine began, clearly not having it. "our comrade, I..."

"AND Najenda doesn't and won't see that right now." He cut off. "Don't you understand? This whole damn thing with the First Order has her stressed out of her mind! You saw her a few moments earlier, I don't think she's exactly keen on hearing something that I was supposed to keep secret coming out of YOUR mouth."

"But if she does this won't that cause an uproar among the entire army?" Akame inquired. In response, the man couldn't help but let out a sigh of frustration.

"That's why I was supposed to keep this a secret." He complained. "Now with two people knowing about it, it will only be a matter of time before the whole goddamn team finds out about this!" Setting one caring hand on Lubbock's shoulder, Akame looked him in the eye.

"Don't worry, we won't tell her." She began before giving Mine a look to which she responded reluctantly with an agreeing nod and once she did, she snapped her gaze back toward the man. "Is there at least SOMETHING we can do to help though?" Bringing one hand to his chin, Lubba scrunched his brow before proceeding to enter a moment of intense thought.

"Like I said, the only thing that would change her mind is if Tatsumi can prove himself in the following days that he's still a valuable ally." Lubbock explained. "Which means the place to prove that would be..."

"The day we attack the Jaegers." Akame finished to which Lubbock nodded.

"Which already could lead to Tatsumi's death if he's not careful about the whole thing with all that's going on right now."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Mine asked.

"I'm getting to that. To me, the best and only thing we can do is just try our best to keep Tatsumi out of harm's way." Almost immediately, Mine's brow cocked upward.

"Really, that's it?"

"Look I really don't know what to tell you." Lubbock explained. "If we get involved directly and essentially admit to Najenda what we heard, we risk Night Raid falling apart but if we leave Tatsumi alone, we may lose our ONLY hope for winning against the Empire. I really have no clue what else I really can say." Not exactly satisfied, the sniper sat there for what felt like several straight minutes, stopping every once in awhile to shift which leg was resting over what knee. After a little while longer upon coming to the realization that this was it, Mine stood up and set one reassuring hand down on his back.

"If this is what it'll take to save Tatsumi then I'll do it." She said with a smile which Lubbock returned with ease. With all that said and done, the three began to make their way towards the door and after unlocking it, they made their way out. During this, Lubbock's thoughts couldn't help but focus on one particular subject that wasn't quite Tatsumi related but at the very least, it somewhat relaxed him despite what might appear in the days and months to come.

"You know, I'm at the very least hoping that you fucked up that First Order soldier Tatsumi because with what I have to go through now, that would bring me at least SOME relief."


	10. Chapter 10

( _Imperial Capital: Jaeger HQ_ )

It had been several hours following the Jaegers' search for the First Order and slightly less than the surprise attack they suffered by their forces which was a particularly notable event since a few moments earlier, it was when their commander Esdeath left to deal with what they assumed to be personal matters. It was this very moment in particular that made some members, especially Wave and Kurome, rather worried for what was going to happen to them after they reported back. After all, Honest was especially known for his cruelty and his hatred for failure so for the next several minutes following this event, their minds brainstormed particularly horrific options.

Whether it be something as light as simply giving them a swift death or something as horrific as brutalizing each member one by one with the others being forced to watch, the point was that for them, this was one failure they were not particularly happy with. However, one could imagine their surprise when they explained the situation to the prime minister... with his only response being his usual thousand yard stare and chilling grin that would haunt anyone's nightmares for months on end. To them, the response was certainly unexpected but not uncommon since the prime minister usually did keep this expression, even when he was infuriated with the change usually coming after the initial meeting. So they waited, and waited, and waited but to their shock, Honest didn't seem remotely bothered by it which confused them greatly.

After all, even with Honest's nature, the idea of smiling at a failure this massive since it could turn the tide for either side in this war was by far one of the most confusing idiotic options you could go for. Sure enough, what they didn't know was that behind that grinning sack of flesh and his wide golden eyes, Honest's emotions were going through a massive flux, something which he had never gone through once before.

For several long years, Honest has had absolutely, positively no reason to ever panic or worry about the Empire in any way and shockingly enough, it was very easy to understand as to why this was.

From the very moment he came into power to even the point when Night Raid had started to achieve their first set of victories against them, concern for the possibility of losing power had never even crossed his mind and that was mostly due in no small part to the allies he had surrounding him. Granted, the troopers themselves were nothing to really be frightened of, in fact, their equipment was about as standard as standard could get with only the most basic of protection being provided as to not waste much funding on anything that he might need along with combat training that, while it did exercise brutality, it was very much focused on the simple yet effective "survival of the fittest" principle in that if the weak fell then the strong should outright ignore them and instead carry on with bringing about the world's future which although effective, was ultimately rendered worthless in comparison to the emphasizing of teamwork and it was one of the main reasons why hordes upon hordes of soldiers could be and were taken down with ease whenever contact with Night Raid came into play... and yet, he never found it remotely that frightening.

For what his army might've lacked when it came to extreme skill, it certainly made up for that with just the sheer size of it and the fear that was instilled into the hearts of everyone who saw them. To the civilians, they didn't just see people in uniform marching down the streets, what they saw was a truthfully vicious organization that even if an offense as minor as a vulgar gesture was performed toward them, that would be met with a swift chop of the arm and crushing of the head, the latter of which just so happened to be one of Honest's favorite sights even to that very day. To him, it didn't matter if his soldiers were somewhat ill-prepared, with the power that he and his fellow officials possessed with Imperial Arms and simple word-of-mouth alone, the complete overwhelming sense of dread that filled the souls of those who witnessed them was more than enough to leave him satisfied.

When Night Raid then came into the fray and started to fight back, of course Honest was concerned somewhat since despite what he put into place, he was no fool and understood that in this world, actions did speak FAR louder than words. However, what quickly calmed this in a matter of seconds was how he eventually came to the realization that unless they managed a way to get through Esdeath and a secret weapon that he possessed, the sheer size and scope of the army alone made just about every victory and kill, no matter how big, to be more like the minor irritations brought on by a mosquito rather than the powerful chomp of a Danger Beast and even then, Honest LOVED the challenge.

For a man of his age and portly figure, one never would've expected that he had an inherent love for warfare. While the love for cruelty and torture has certainly been given away by the nightmare-inducing grin he had during the many executions he put forth both public and private, it was never expected that the man actually loved conflict. In fact, initial rumors suggested due to how he referred to certain battle-tactics as being "uncivilized" and "unrestrained messes" that he actually despised the idea of engaging in battle

However, that couldn't have been any further from the truth since to him, warfare (more specifically victories against the Revolutionary Army) was damn near intoxicating for him. With the descriptions of heads being slashed clean off, disembowelment, bones being shattered, and the various battle strategies that were set in place, there was nothing that gave him quite the metaphorical high like it and due to their victories making impact on Night Raid at LONG last, that feeling was very much present then and in much, MUCH greater doses... that was of course, until a certain new visitor came into town.

While he did make it clear to the Jaegers that he'd prefer for the First Order to be brought to him so that a deal may possibly be worked out, deep down inside, the idea of them being burned at the stake was proving to be more than a little enticing by that point since like every dictator, he possessed a burning hatred for one outcome, a hatred SO pulsing that it made his dislike for rebellion look like a minor agitation.

He absolutely despised the idea of a rival who could in theory, take BOTH the throne and army away from him. A fear possessed by many if not ALL dictators who came before him and it didn't appear as though that it was going to stop anytime soon.

In just the span of a day, the First Order had effectively managed to completely upstage him with both how quickly they got their name out there AND with just how effective their strategies were. From what he could tell, the troopers were quite educated in the art of the blitzkrieg or "lightning war" which consisted of mainly striking locations with rapid speed and all of your military might, giving the enemy no time to breathe in order to bring about a swift and easy victory and while it was a favorite tactic of his, it was due to the lack of advancement present among his troops that prevented him from using it to its max potential as more often than not and especially by the time the Empire became feared by many, there was extreme difficulty in catching villages by surprise due to their approach on horseback being more often than not reported on by the said locations which led to them preparing themselves for the inevitable assault.

Due to this massive shortcoming of his purposeful lack of extreme and extensive training, prior to the First Order he only had the pleasure of viewing a grand total of three people and/or groups able to use this strategy and those were General Esdeath, the Jaegers and Wild Hunt and even then it was very rare since both combatants like him, preferred a good fight in comparison to no fight and loved to inflict excruciating pain on their opponents. With all this in mind, one could imagine the sheer surprise that Honest felt when in the span of a few hours, the group had ALREADY made a name for themselves with this tactic... and it would still not even come close to what occurred in reality.

To say that Honest was surprised and annoyed by the whole situation was an understatement... he was infuriated by it. What his army was only able to accomplish when everything seemed to align in just the right way, the odds of it happening having been predicted as being exactly 2,467 to 1, the First Order was able to do so in a consistent pattern of seemingly two villages per two minutes over the course of a single day which had once been reported as being literally impossible to perform and yet, the group was able to pull it off like it was nothing and when combined with how they were attacking villages regardless of current alignment, this made him FAR more nervous than he ever was over the course of his entire life. _  
_

Due to the dangers posed by this unknown fighting force with the only details they had to go off of being eyewitness accounts by those who clearly were more than a little disturbed by the encounter thus leading to what they assumed to be various inconsistencies, it was decided that the Jaegers would be dispatched to investigate since normal troops would most definitely fall to them if the descriptions were to be believed. As usual due to a lack of any real means of communication, Honest ultimately had to rely on the report he would receive from the group coming back... or the lack of one which would confirm their fates. Ultimately, he expected that they wouldn't be able to track the First Order due to their lack of information but was certainly not expecting the loss of Esdeath as evidenced by his tone.

"Surely you're mistaken," Honest began, trying his damnedest to hide his concern. "Esdeath wouldn't just desert our army like that, she has put any personal dealings she may have had back in the past, there is no reason for her to do such a thing."

"Trust me prime minister, we didn't believe it either." Wave responded. "But she just... took off and we just couldn't find her." At that moment, the prime minister leaned forward in his seat and clasped his hands together right as his heart seemed to drop like a rock, metaphorically smashing into every single bone on the way down. For many dictators, there was always the rule that if one was clearly far more capable than you were, that person would be one you would fear the most and to say that Esdeath fit this mold would be, again, a massive understatement.

In his eyes, Esdeath was pure perfection. The way she executed actions, her strength and powers were unrivaled by many as were her skills with weapons and due to her love of torture and pain, anytime an interrogation was initiated, he would always have her being the one to conduct it all... which was why the idea of her either running off or wanting to take the throne was a massive issue for him since all she really had to do was just catch him off-guard with a strike of her powers and "BAM!", he would be gone.

Fortunately for him, if there was one thing that Esdeath possessed that made him far less concerned was her seemingly unwavering loyalty to both the Empire and the cause at hand. Hell, one of the very first principles she taught the Jaegers during their first meeting was that they were to remain loyal at all times which was even said to those who were actually serving under the Empire beforehand. With this in mind, it made the whole situation even more odd and even more important to figure out.

"Well... that's unfortunate." Honest said, his voice slightly lower than usual. "Did she at the very least leave a trail?"

"Negative," Bols replied. "we would've taken the time to track where she was going but we were a bit held up."

"By who or what?" Honest asked, his brow cocked. Setting one hand to his chin, the masked man was just about to answer when Wave cut in.

"We were held up by a squad of Stormtroopers."

"A squad of... what?"

"Stormtroopers," Wave repeated. "the main foot-soldiers of the First Order. They had a small squadron out by the remains of one of the villages and they found us."

"What happened then?" Honest questioned with intrigue.

"We tried to reach a peaceful negotiation with them but they went rough on our two comrades here so we had no choice but to fight." As Bols told the story, Kurome noticeably winced, the armored warrior's grip on her being quite fresh on the mind. Spotting this, Wave immediately held her closer to him.

"Was anyone harmed?"

"No sir," Bols said with a shake of his head. "in fact, I would say that we got out relatively unscathed."

"Relatively?"

"Well..." The masked man lightly gripped his chin. "Wave was pushed down to the ground and Kurome was shaken a bit but they're extremely minor and very easy to ignore."

"I see..." Honest began, releasing a mental sigh of relief right as he sat back in his chair. "well then, it's a shame that you couldn't be less aggressive with them, we could've gotten an extra fighting f-"

"They were the ones who were aggressive with us!" Wave interjected. "If we didn't do anything we would've been killed!"

"No harm in peaceful negotiation." Honest shrugged.

"With all due respect, you are HARDLY what I'd call someone who prefers peace." Wave responded right as the old man straightened himself in his seat.

"I'm a man of the moment, if there's a way for us to use peace over warfare then we do just that."

"I hate to admit it but I do side a bit with Wave on this one prime minister." Seryu cut in, lightly petting Koro in her arms. "The First Order could be great allies but they seem a bit too filled with..."

"Injustice?" The prime minister guessed, only to have the warrior shake her head.

"Not exactly, they seem to be most interested in just causing pure anarchy without being necessarily attached to either side."

"Well then, that is an interesting assessment." The minister admitted.

"Furthermore," Run added. "we can also confirm that they seem to use a form of firearms to battle against us and that the white armor, despite being durable, can be broken if subjected to enough punishment as Seryu demonstrated on them." As he continued on, the minister stopped to take one massive swig of a mug he had set on the desk, presumably as a form of comfort drink. "They also don't seem to be immune to enhancements like the kind that Kurome has."

"That's good to hear." Honest responded, setting his drink down with a loud "THUD!" soon after. "So at the very least we should be able to do something against them if push does come to shove." Stopping for a moment, the minister clasped his hands together once more, his golden irises showing a glint of madness. "Moving on though, does anyone have any guesses on the reasoning for Esdeath's departure?"

"We've had a few over the length of time it took to get here." Bols began. "Wave, why don't you start us off?" Nodding, the man stepped forward.

"While she never specified to us exactly why she went off so suddenly, I personally believe that there was just a personal issue she had to deal with, like she possibly felt that a member of Night Raid was in the area and went to take them down." Honest looked onward, the nods of his head making his positive thoughts quite known despite there being no words. Then, out of respect for Kurome's lack of desire to speak, Run took over.

"While it has been changing over time, I do believe that it might have something to do with this Kylo Ren person that we've been discussing." Run explained, the swordswoman once again tensing up slightly at the mention before being calmed down by Wave's tightening grasp. "While we know literally nothing about him, I could tell just by the way she was examining everything that the general was thoroughly impressed by how each and every operation was conducted and at such a quick pace as well. Not only that but she also has been seemingly turning her head from side-to-side every now and again, almost as if she was a wolf listening for prey and when asked about it, she just explains that it's nothing."

"Which means?" Honest cut off, head cocked.

"Which means that if Stylish has taught me anything before his untimely demise, it's that a person's aura CAN be sensed if one clears their mind enough which means that most likely, Esdeath was seeking the man out in order to have that chat with him."

"A chat that doesn't involve us? When she's going against someone who has already taken out multiple villages in a single day? Are you crazy?!" Wave asked.

"First of all, no I'm not. Second, Esdeath is not to be underestimated and finally, while she most likely would've gone in with us by her side, it is my honest opinion that she thought our presence might've had the possibility of triggering a violent response from the Order therefore she wanted to make it clear to them that her intentions were entirely peaceful." After he finished his explanation, no words were spouted from anyone in the room as their faces went from being that of confusion to that of clear understanding, the sight of which Run couldn't help but give a slight smile at since it at long last gave him more reasoning for why he took up that teaching job back then. The only person however who didn't show this expression was Seryu who seemed actually more nervous than anything.

"Seryu?" Run questioned. "Is there something you'd like to add?"

"Well..." The woman tried her best to seem inconspicuous and normal but with her shaky hands petting Koro followed up by the very light shaking of her body, needless to say it was not going to be her day once she saw the amount of eyes that were set on her.

"Well what? It's alright Seryu, we're all here for you." After a few more minutes of silence, she took in a deep breath.

"Well if you ask me..." She carefully looked around the room, her gaze especially resting on Honest. Despite this being something that was taught to her especially by Ogre, she knew that what she was about to say could possibly be considered something far worse and most likely would be used against her. After a few more moments, she continued onward. "I don't think you're right Run, I personally feel that this is an act of tr-"

"Highly unlikely given her extreme devotion to the Empire," A deep male-sounding voice cut off along with a door slamming shut. "After all, she provided comfort after Stylish fell in battle." Her shock at the knowledge was quickly cut off by Honest's voice which clearly showcased his happiness upon seeing the bulky armored man enter the room.

"General Budo! What a pleasant surprise!" Honest called out. "Please have a seat, get comfortable."

"Forgive the interruption, I had just returned from my quest to find Syura and it pains me to report that I couldn't find him anywhe-"

"No don't worry." Honest cut off with hand raised. "This actually works in our favor."

"I don't think I follow Prime Minister." Budo said right as he planted himself down. His grin becoming wide once more, the minister gave them all a glance.

"Well you see, I'm sure you've heard of our little... problem with Esdeath."

"I heard parts of it but I was able to put the pieces together." The general replied with a nod. "But sir, don't you think we should be putting more focus on fighting the war?"

"You just read my mind Budo." Honest began. "You see my friend, the war is important to me and I've not forgotten about it... but Esdeath and Syura are just FAR too valuable to leave behind." Right then and there, his dark expression changed. "However, this does not mean I plan on standing by, constantly having my men search for them like they're trying to find a needle in a haystack and it's your sudden appearance in particular that gave me this idea."

"What is it that you're suggesting?" Budo asked with interest, the Jaegers being completely clueless on the whole matter.

"Hey Bols, do you have any idea who this guy is?" Wave whispered.

"General Budo is one of the most respected members of Honest's team." The man explained. "He's pretty much Esdeath but without the love for torture and a lower tolerance for failure and I think you know what this is leading to." Nodding Wave looked forward.

"I have a bad feeling about this Bols."

"It's mutual." Not paying a single bit of attention to them, Honest wasted no time and kicked everything off.

"For the time being, I want YOU to be the new commander of the Jaegers." Honest gave him another wide-eyed grin. "That is of course, until Esdeath is found or she comes back but even if she doesn't, it is my honest opinion that through your leadership, these fine gentlemen would be nearly unstoppable. So what do you say?" Without any hesitation, the broad shouldered man pushed his chair out and gave Honest a look of respect.

"It would be an honor to lead this fine group prime minister, an honor that I fully accept." He said with a bow before proceeding to make his way towards the group who were all staring at him with cautious optimism.

"Yep, the bad feeling's still present." Wave thought to himself.

"What are your orders?" Budo questioned right as he crossed his arms. In response, the prime minister stood up and set his arms behind his back.

"You will move out and scan the entire area for any sight of Esdeath and/or Syura." The prime minister began as he proceeded to turn his back towards them. "If you honestly can't find them or you happen to discover their rotting remains, you will bring them to me and will begin your training with them immediately, do I make myself clear?"

"We will do whatever you ask of us." Budo replied right as he gave a quick bow.

"I sure hope so, now I know that you are very aware of your only punishment for failure so I won't bore you. Now go!" The moment Honest gave his hand-signal was the moment that the group turned to leave the room and as the door shut tight, the man just stared up at the wall with one thought in mind.

"I certainly hope you're not conspiring with the First Order as a means of betraying me Esdeath, because I really don't want Budo to have to show the both of you how terrifying he can be."

* * *

( _First Order HQ_ )

For someone who has evaded everything from the law to the media, Syura had absolutely no idea what a prison looked like with the only pieces of info he had to go off of being the descriptions Champ and the others gave him. Despite this, one thing was for certain, none of the prisons were like what he was seeing. Though those weren't his only thoughts, in fact, he still was reeling over the loss of his "prey" and it was all thanks to that one trooper.

However, before he could ponder over that. The man was shaken from his sleep due to a sudden jolt and a ripple of pain in the back of his head.

"Damn, guess you don't believe in treating prisoners with respect huh?" He asked in a rather cocky manner, only to then be shocked to find himself in a room unlike any other. From the looks of things, it was a Path of Peace location, Bolic's palace to be exact but everything about it just seemed so... different and what was especially telling was the icy cold sensation around his wrists and legs which was quite strange since he always expected Bolic to be the type of guy to use ropes though he didn't shy away from using metal chains. Looking down, he was fully expecting to see just that, only to have his eyes widen at just what it was he was strapped in.

It looked almost like a surgical table of some kind, very much like the one Stylish used for his "patients" way back then but the colors were completely different with it mainly being black with hints of silver. Not only that but whereas Stylish used leather straps, here it was clear that what he was exactly being held by were metal clamps that were SO tight, that it seemed to be slowly squeezing the life out his limbs. "Well, I guess that answers my ques-ACK!" He was cut off immediately by a black object crashing straight into his face, sending blood from his mouth and straight onto the floor.

"Best keep your mouth shut, the commander expects at least THAT much out of you." A male voice suggested rather gruffly, the tone sounding oddly crackly, like it was coming from a radio. After regaining his composure, the psycho's vision was filled with the sight of three figures, the first being easily identifiable as Esdeath and the second he assumed was the trooper he faced beforehand whereas the final was very, VERY odd with his dark menacing robes, somewhat lanky body and the black dome he had mounted on his head.

"Did Halloween come early for you freaks?" Syura asked mockingly. "Because you certainly look like you're wanting some can-ACK!"

"What did I just tell you?" The trooper asked as he began to rub the back of his blaster, only to have the dark figure's gaze settle on him.

"I can take it from here FN-2000, there is no need to continue on." The figure explained.

"My apologies Commander Ren." Zeroes gave the Dark Lord an honorable salute. "It won't happen again." Eyes lighting up with interest, Syura's face developed into a smirk.

"So you're the big bad Kylo Ren that everyone is talking about?" Syura began. "I have to admit, you look a little thin to be this big imposing figure."

"I was thinking the same for you." Kylo replied rather dryly.

"Everyone thinks the same for me..." The psycho responded right as his smirk developed into a grin. "until I kill them that is."

"Is that so?" Ren asked, his tone unchanging to receive a nod from Syura. "Well then, it looks like what I have here is another case of an egotistical fool who believes the universe centers around them, how original."

"You're certainly right about it being original," He said. "after all, I am handsome compared to the majori-"

"Moving on," Kylo cut off. "I would just like to ask you a few questions. If you answer them properly, I may let you go. If you answer them wrong or refuse to even respond..."

"Let me guess, you'll kill me?" The Dark Lord slowly leaned forward.

"Let's just say that you don't want to find out." Kylo threatened, his tone low and stern. So far, Esdeath was quite impressed. Granted she would've started right out the gate with letting out her frustrations... BUT so far, the approach that the First Order took seemed to be quite professional.

"Very well, I'll bite but wouldn't you rather know my n-."

"I don't care enough for that," Kylo cut off. "all I want to know is what exactly you were doing near our search areas?"

"Now why on Earth would you ask that?"

"Because we've been getting reports about some troopers seeing a figure like you jumping around in the trees, near the sites of the monster attacks we've been investigating and the village remains, something that's far too suspicious to ignore." The psycho's head cocked to the side.

"Is that really all you want to know?" He questioned.

"It's all I need to know." The Dark Lord responded. At this point, Syura began to think about how this actually may not be that bad. While he certainly didn't appreciate being hit by the soldier, his high tolerance for pain certainly kept him from feeling much of it and so far, it had been fairly light. After a few minutes of patiently waiting for his answer, the psycho gave him a smirk.

"Too bad," He began. "I ain't telling you shit." With that said, he took in a bit of air through the mouth and with all his might, he threw his head forward, launching a small bit of saliva that splattered on Kylo's helmet with there being no response though to the others, especially Zeroes, they knew this was a big mistake.

"What's the matter?" Syura asked after about a minute had passed. "Not amus-GACK!" Almost immediately, Kylo thrust his hand out toward Syura with an open palm and despite him not even remotely touching his flesh, the psycho felt the back of his head slam against the metal contraption hard, sending a rippling pain through his head that strangely enough stayed put. While the impact itself wasn't exactly much to him, there seemed to be this light but very noticeable pressure that was being put onto his skull, almost as if someone was slowly squeezing it.

"Let's try that again," Kylo kept his hand held out towards him as his tone shifted into something a bit more demanding. "what were you doing out there?"

"So this is the Force?" Esdeath thought to herself. "So he's able to just knock anyone against anything without even touching them?" Right then and there, the general gave a small grin. "Now this is entertaining."

"Are you going to speak?" The warrior asked with a cocked head and after several seconds of silence. Despite the pressure in his skull, the psycho shook his head... which proved to be a massive mistake since Ren almost immediately seemed to increase the pressure, causing that minor pain to evolve into something of a heavy migraine.

"How about now?" Again, no answer which was something not unheard of by Kylo since he had to go through the exact same issues with that one Resistance pilot way back then with the exception being that last time, he never exactly had the abilities that he did now and unlike the Resistance pilot, this one wasn't necessarily someone he planned on keeping around and when considering how that was one of the moments that led into FN-2187's departure, the similarities weren't exactly pleasing him.

"Tell me, what were you doing?!" Ren growled.

"Go to hell." Syura responded, earning him another slam into the headrest followed up by the pressure increasing on his skull along with another event.

"Trooper," Kylo began, his gaze shifting towards Zeroes with his arm still held out towards the psycho. "I think I can use your assistance now, I'll tell you when to stop." Knowing what this meant, Syura watched as the officer gave his commander a quick nod and began to move towards his position with the latter backing away to give him space. Reaching out towards Esdeath's leg, the trooper drew what appeared to be a futuristic baton of some sort with its black, silver and white color scheme being simple but very striking. Right when he reached his front, the trooper flicked the weapon with the psycho watching with surprise as the weapon sprang to life in a matter of seconds, electricity coursing through the tip exactly in the same fashion as the one he saw the trooper Nines using.

"Go on," He taunted. "give me your best sh-AAGH!" Not wanting to waste anymore time, Zeroes cut Syura off with a BRUTAL slam to the leg, sending a massive jolt of pain up his body and judging by how he screamed, it was almost as though this was the first time he had ever felt something like this... though it could have something to do with the condition of his leg which notably upon striking it, not only did it give with a sickening "CRACK!" but also if one were to take a closer look, they would see a small sharp shard of bloodied bone jutting out of his leg, the wound easily able to be identified by the lines of crimson that were flowing down his tanned flesh. Right before he drew his weapon back for another shot, Zeroes stopped to take a look back at Kylo, waiting for permission to be granted. In no more than a few seconds, the Dark Lord did so with a nod of his head.

"You may proceed." He said. Nodding himself, the trooper drew his weapon back once more right as Syura was trying his best to let out a taunt through grit teeth.

"Is that the best you can d-FUAAAGGHH!" The baton came down into his other knee seemingly harder than the last and just like last time, the bone broke through the flesh though instead of a little nub, it now was more like a small handle that was stabbing through the skin. Not bothering to wait for him to finish screaming, Zeroes began to unleash an onslaught of baton strikes all over his body while Kylo and Esdeath watched and while the former's expression couldn't be gauged due to the mask, the general was feeling immense pleasure as the beatdown continued.

"Their troops are trained well," Esdeath thought. "they certainly don't show mercy." Finally after a few more minutes of being beaten with the thing and having blood spew from his mouth, Zeroes finally stopped himself, giving the man a grace period though if he had to be honest, he wasn't sure if he was going to be exactly "walking" this one off. Seeing her chance, Esdeath decided to taunt the man for some added enjoyment.

"I guess that's why Wild Hunt does so well without you," She jeered. "you're far better at running than you are fighting." Giving the general a harsh glare, the warrior took a moment to spit a bloodied tooth down onto the ground, all while Zeroes was slowly raising his weapon into the air.

"GO FUCK YOURSE-YEEAAGGHH!" Before he could speak again, the officer brought the baton down with such a massive amount of force that would've made even a Sith proud and where was this shot exactly targeting? Well, if the screams were of any indication, the metal object collided with the psycho's prized "jewels" and right then and there, the trooper watched as the pants immediately became drenched with red, signifying that with how hard he hit him, they simply could not stand up to the pressure and were squished like the head of an Ewok had been during a mission to Endor. The screams of pure agony were nothing but symphonies to Esdeath's ears, to the point where she took her moment to shut her eyes and REVEL in them. After a few more moments, Zeroes was just about to raise his weapon again when Kylo gave him a look.

"I'll take it from here." Kylo said right as he proceeded to make his way towards the psycho who was battered and somewhat broken with bruises all over his body and his broken legs. "Look at how pathetic you've become, going from being cocky like a smuggler to now remaining silent like an abused slave to the Hutts and yet no matter how many times I see it, it still fills me with solace." With no response to give, the psycho just glared up at the Dark Lord, his thoughts being filled with ideas of what he would do if he was out of the restraints.

"You certainly have some interesting ideas on how to kill," Kylo blurted out. "but it's not what I want." Immediately, Syura's eyes widened. Apparently the Dark Lord not only could use telekinesis to bash him against his seat and squeeze his skull but now he could read minds?! It was all extremely surprising to both him and Esdeath though the latter was clearly more pleasant about the situation.

"I've already told you..." Syura finally began, his voice weak and slightly raspy. "I'm NOT giving you shit."

"Oh don't worry, I'm not asking you anymore nor is it about that particular piece of info." Kylo responded before thrusting his arm outward once more, slamming the psycho against the seat. "I'm now demanding to know where this 'Wild Hunt' is stationed." Right then and there, his eyes widened. Compared to the First Order and the state he was in right now due to just two people from it, he was certain that Wild Hunt would be nothing but mere ants compared to them. With this in mind and despite the severe amount of pain he was in, Syura shot Ren a look.

"You won't touch them, you will NEVER fucking touch th-"

"You've certainly got quite the mouth on you," Kylo commented. "it looks like there's still some more 'convincing' to be done." With that said, the Dark Lord immediately turned towards Esdeath, his head motioning towards Syura. At first, she wasn't exactly sure of what he meant but once she thought back to what he said, she was left utterly shocked considering this was coming from the same person who at first didn't trust her.

"Are you sure?" Esdeath asked to which Ren nodded.

"If you are to prove your worth to the First Order then yes, I'm sure of this." With that said, he slowly backed up, leaving Syura to get a good look at the general who at one point, was at the mercy of a small little stunt he pulled that involved teleporting her and that boy Tatsumi to a far off island. After a little bit of thought, Esdeath's face developed into a small smile right as she used her powers to form a very, VERY thin icicle before she proceeded to make her way towards his body which seemed to be twitching... out of fear and when he spoke, all confidence seemed to be drained from all his vocals.

"Say come on now, isn't this a little bit too crazy?" Not listening one bit, she just continued to march on over to his position, her grip tightening around the spike. "I-I-I wasn't me-meaning for all this..." Finally reaching the foot of it all, she began to lightly push the head down against the back of the metal with Kylo providing that extra support to keep it there. "I mean, really guys, we're all shitheads here aren't we?! We're all just looking to have fun, we're not meaning this!" After a few more seconds of hearing his rambling, the general wasted no time and shoved her hand over his mouth. With his head perfectly situated, Esdeath began to carefully lower her weapon down towards the center of his eye, making sure that it was as perfectly lined as it could get which wasn't easy due to his constant blinking which Kylo stopped with relative ease. Seeing that she was in position, she slowly raised the weapon over her head, her shadow against the ceiling reminding the psycho of something straight out of a classic horror film except this time, it was all real.

After a few more seconds, the general, without the need of taking a single breath to calm herself, thrust her hand downward, letting gravity do the rest of the work and just like that, it all happened in a flash. Right then and there, Syura let out a muffled scream of pure unadulterated, unhindered agony right as the icy tool stabbed straight into his eyeball, sending several little spurts of blood launching from out of the wound, a sight that, in all his years of service, had actually made Zeroes want to vomit in disgust. After a few more seconds of letting it linger in there, Esdeath grabbed hold of her hand and began to roughly jerk the eyeball around from side to side with each thrash inciting more screams, causing more blood to spurt out and even tears to pour down. After several more moments of jerking it around, the general finally with all her might pulled upward, the eyeball raising from the hole with ease, the optic nerve and the small orb itself tearing like they were nothing but paper.

Raising her hand off of the warrior's mouth, his screams came echoing outward with such extreme force and by far out of all the people she had done this to, this was the most satisfying. Feeling pleased with herself, she took a moment to examine her "trophy" much to the dismay of Syura whose screams of agony quickly shifted into crying and constant begs for mercy with a mixture of tears and blood running down his face. After taking the moment to examine the severed eye, Kylo made his way towards the warrior right as Zeroes made a suggestion.

"He's beaten, I think that's enough for now." Ignoring him, Kylo just looked the man directly in his injured face.

"Are you going to cooperate now?" The Dark Lord asked.

"Fuck... you." Syura responded in-between the agonizing screams.

"You're still going to resist me?!" Kylo growled, his cool quickly fading. "Are you really that dense?! Do you want me to take it from you by force?!"

"Lord Ren relax plea-"

"YOU AND YOUR GROUP CAN ALL ROT IN HELL!" Syura roared. Right then and there, after a few more seconds, Kylo lowered his hand though the pressure on his head was still going on. Dead silence filled the room with the only thing that was heard being the heavy breaths from the Dark Lord and the few huffs and whimpers from Syura. His gaze still locked on the psycho, the warrior began back up a bit, his hands being at his sides. After a little bit more time had passed, Esdeath had to quickly blink since she swore that in the man's hands, she saw little crackles of lightning pass in-between the fingers, something that definitely didn't go unnoticed by Syura who was looking incredibly anxious.

"What th-"

"RAAAAGGGGGHHHH!" With that one rage-filled roar, Kylo thrust his arms forward and before Syura could even blink, several bolts of what looked to be lightning came launching from his fingers with such force, that it knocked the man free from his restraints and into the wall behind him with the only sound he was able to make being a long whine of pure anguish. Not wasting any time, the Dark Lord began to march toward him with Esdeath following close behind while Zeroes looked on in pure horror.

"You will give me what I need!" Ren growled. On the receiving end of it all, Syura was completely shocked by what had become of him. The bravery he showcased? Gone. His wit? Gone. His charisma? Gone with all that laid in their places being the overwhelming, burning sensation of pain and he just couldn't believe it. For a guy like him who had the ability to manipulate time and space, he was very certain that through the use of this ability, he most likely was able to outlast and evade anyone who came in contact with him, not once thinking that someone would catch him. While he was shocked that he was now humbled, what became even more shocking to him was that it came from being brutalized for what felt like several grueling days.

On the end of the bystander, Esdeath was having the complete opposite of experiences and was absolutely loving what was going on. Despite the clear temper that Kylo possessed with how this whole thing started, it was at this exact moment that she realized she had made the perfect choice in coming there especially if it meant watching something so beautiful like this. The way Syura screamed in pain, the way the bolts coursed through his body, seemingly cooking it from the inside if the smoke was to be believed and most important of all, the fact that it was Syura was more than enough to get her to crack a smile.

Out of all the people that occasionally fought for the Empire, Syura was definitely not what she would call an honorable fighter. In fact, she had made it a point that if she ever had come across him or his little group without Honest and the Empire ever knowing about it, she gladly would've put them out of commission without a shadow of a doubt and to see that dream realized in one form or another through Ren's "shock therapy" was more than enough to have her smiling the whole way through. Finally after several more minutes, Kylo finally stopped the lightning, the psycho taking a moment to revel in the brief period of relaxation he had.

However, it was clear that Kylo was understandably not as willing to let him have this since a few seconds later, he immediately held out his arm and using the Force, he flattened him out against the wall. Seeing that he had him in the perfect position, he immediately reached for his saber and flicked to life with the pressure on the psycho's mind becoming far rougher right then and there though this time, it also felt as though his very thoughts and memories were being violated.

"This is what you get for defying me." Without any sort of heads up, Ren took his weapon which Esdeath was extremely impressed by and gave it a good upward swing, the blade cutting through various tendons and flesh with ease, causing a noticeable red mark to appear along with more screams and despite Zeroes's horror, he just kept his mouth shut in case the commander turned on him. A few moments later, Kylo followed it up with another brutal slash with this time being in a backhand motion and afterward, he took a moment to breathe. However, that moment was extremely brief since he immediately began to hold the tip against the prisoner's back, the sheer heat of the red blade causing him to whimper with pain.

"Please, just kill me!" Syura pleaded, his demeanor unlike anything Esdeath had seen from the guy beforehand.

"Why? So that I would lose my chance at learning your team's location?" His blade easing much closer to the flesh, the psycho was looking on with pure fear lining his face. "You brought this on yourself." With that final word, the Dark Lord began to slowly stab the unstable saber into the man's lower back, causing him to let out a LONG eerie cry as it went on. Finally after a few more moments, the man at long last shattered.

"WE'VE TAKEN REFUGE IN ONE OF THE WESTERN VILLAGES!" Syura cried out. "THERE'S YOUR FUCKING INFO NOW PLEASE! JUST LET ME DIE!" At long last, after what felt like an eternity, Kylo Ren flicked his saber off and let the broken remains of the man drop to the ground, with him whimpering and begging the whole way through. At first, it seemed as though the man was not going to be granted his wish which would've filled the psycho with such a fury, if it weren't for Ren snapping his gaze towards Esdeath who had been watching with a face full of pure awe, almost like the one you would have looking at fireworks.

"Feel free to finish everything up yourself, afterward you will accompany me to Wild Hunt's base where we will personally crush them." Kylo said to which Esdeath had a face full of disbelief, her dream was actually about to come true. After she was given a nod, signaling to her that it was all real, the Dark Lord began to make his way out the door with FN-2000 ready to follow when he was stopped by his hand.

"I want you to help her clean the mess up." Kylo mentioned. "We're dumping the body as soon as we can." With that said, he was continuing his walk when Zeroes stopped him.

"But sir, wouldn't that attract attention?"

"A good question," Kylo began. "it's simple. Attention is what I want, attention leads to fear, fear leads to submission and submission is exactly what the First Order wants." With that said and done, the warrior made his way down the hall, leaving Zeroes with nothing but conflict in his brain. He was taught by many to be a good soldier and loyal to the cause but to see such extremes taken along with how Kylo essentially just flipped his lid served as a grim reminder that this job was extremely dangerous to the point where it seemed as though just the rage killed MORE troopers than the Resistance ever did. Despite this, he shook this from his head and prepared to do his duty, watching as the general walked up towards the shattered shell of the man who couldn't even find the will to speak. Looking down at what was once the most feared, reprehensible criminal in all of the Empire, Esdeath just gave off a dark sadistic smile right as she raised her leg up over his head.

"Sayonara." With that, the foot came down with such amazing force and speed and it was at that point where in the last few moments he had, his last memory before death was his vision being filled in red with those who were unfortunate enough to watch this having their memories forever haunted with the sight of the psycho's splattered brains lining the ground below.


	11. Chapter 11

( _First Order HQ_ )

"ALL TROOPS! REPORT TO THE TRANSPORTS IMMEDIATELY!" A slightly staticy Captain Phasma called out, the voice reverberating all throughout the halls from the sheer volume of it and in no time at all, the sound of boots stomping against the polished floors soon filled the air. The troopers knew best not to defy Phasma since while it was rare for her to actually lash out against them, they knew that if any single trooper was reported as being a slacker to Commander Ren, there would most certainly be hell to pay.

After having a whole day to get used to everything and with the experience she possessed with the Demons, one would think that the blonde tanned Mez had gotten used to everything by now and in some cases, you were both right AND wrong which was especially evidenced with how the woman found herself being jolted awake by the captain's voice and the moment she was, she couldn't help but feel the massive amounts of aching all throughout her body and especially as she sat up for her joints seemed to constantly be fighting against her the whole way through.

"Does that shiny bitch ever respect beauty sleep?" Mez groggily asked herself, her hand rubbing her face. After a few seconds, she suddenly froze, her eyes widening in realization. Carefully moving her hand towards her heart, she felt the beats coming in at a nice steady pace, telling her that she indeed was alive. For most people, this would be a time of celebration but if she had to be honest, she really was curious as to why this even happened.

Syura and by extension Wild Hunt were some of the most vicious criminals that had ever threatened the Empire with their methods and brutality being so widely known that you could come to recognize it like the back of your hand and with all the stories that had gotten out about this little bunch, only one had actually ended with someone escaping and even then, they were left so horrifically scarred by it all that they ended up killing themselves a few days later and to her, the moment she was knocked off that tree was the first time she truthfully felt like she was going to fall.

Taking a moment to rub the bruise on her cheek, only slightly wincing from the slight soreness of it, she began to recall how in the first few moments of that fight, everything seemed so simple at first. From what she had heard, the psycho while very well-trained was nowhere near the levels of warriors such as Esdeath and Budo who she remembered hearing legends about how they were able to stop entire uprisings without the help of a single army which just goes to show just how mighty the Empire was even with the First Order currently outclassing them at every turn. Their skills were so well-known in fact that it was even rumored that Syura on many occasions had admitted that if he ever came into contact with them without a plan, his death would come with much haste and without hardship which was of course strange given just how pompous he acted moments earlier in his fight with her which she had innocently assumed would lead to an easy victory.

However, in less than a minute after the fight had begun, the psycho had showed her just what exactly it was that people feared about him and it was something that was very widely reported on. Using his Imperial Arms along with a more unorthodox fighting method, Mez quickly found that the son of the prime minister was by far one of the most unpredictable individuals that she had ever had the chance of fighting and considering the team she worked for, that went leaps and bounds in making statement. In what seemed like a flash, Mez went from being the top dog and the aggressor to a lowly defender trying her hardest to hold off his relentless assault which ended when she was, as mentioned earlier, tackled from the tree branch down onto the ground below with Syura's weight combined with the impact of the fall knocking her out in an instant and despite not having a single clue about what went down with the only memory she had being a strange warmth she felt over her breasts along with something hard poking at her lower regions, she didn't care what went down, she just knew by the end of it all if the stories were to be believed, that was going to be the last time anyone heard from her.

That was of course until the very moment she woke up which left her with just one word playing back in her mind.

Why? Why was she still alive? HOW was she still alive? Even through her best attempts to answer this on her own, there was nothing she could find that would point to her survival. Her teammates? Were off on another mission, meaning they certainly weren't anywhere near the area. Phasma? She already seemed as though she was ready to rip her head off so that took her out of the equation almost immediately. The Empire? The group had never had a single shred of care for a single warrior in their entire history with Esdeath and possibly Syura being the only exceptions to the rule. Kylo Ren? The Dark Lord murdered her comrade in cold blood and essentially threatened her into joining up with the Order, the idea he would care was just completely ridiculous. One by one, the options were mentally tossed to the side like wads of crumpled pieces of paper until eventually, she was left with one and shockingly enough, it was the only one that seemed the most plausible which became apparent to her when she looked to the side to see the only other person who kept her company in that small locked room being an armor-clad trooper who despite his face being hidden, she could tell from the bit of blood on his hands who he was and the realization shocked her greatly.

To be fair, Nines was certainly far "nicer" to her than most of the other troopers and especially Phasma but she would hardly call their interactions as being "warm and fuzzy". In fact, the lightest way she could put it was that FN-2199 was pretty much "Phasma Lite" in that while he clearly didn't reach the level of seriousness that she possessed, he was still just as much of a hardass to her about being loyal and serious as she was. Not to mention that with the trooper's often cold remarks along with his recent actions, he certainly was far from being what she would consider her ideal "knight in shining armor" and judging by how he nearly blew her to pieces with that one grenade, it was clear he didn't think of her as his ideal princess either. All in all, Nines was a skilled fighter but just like the rest of the team, his motives were clearly drenched within the darkness, his brutality being a perfect example of the sheer unyielding might that the First Order possessed and it certainly didn't change her opinion of them all.

However, there was something about the trooper that prevented her from completely sharing the same opinion of him. At that moment, the woman began to lightly grasp at her chin right as she began to think back to a moment that was still rather fresh in her mind, most likely due to how soon it had happened and also when exactly it did. Considering this was the same trooper who shot a pregnant woman dead with not a shred of remorse, it was hard to imagine that he would also possess a hint of chivalry such as what he showcased in his defense of her from the psycho which was similar to that of a parent trying to defend their child which considering how it was so unfitting of Nines, she couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle when thinking back to it though she ceased it almost immediately when she saw the armored body wiggling a slight bit, light groans being let out in the few seconds that he did so.

"Still, even after I've been like, such a massive bitch to him, he saved me?" She thought to herself though really, that question paled in importance when compared to the next thought that came into her mind.

If Nines had saved her then how exactly was he able to take out Syura if he even took him out at all? She remembered the start of that fight as clear as day, his focus was completely locked on the boy who was just pelting him with wave after wave of ferocious slashes which were all carefully blocked by the metal baton he swung around. Not only that but as far as she knew, the man never possessed any sort of superhuman ability nor did he possess anything akin to an Imperial Arms. Highly conditioned and trained? Indeed he was and most likely, given how he responded to most of Syura's jeers, he certainly was no stranger to enemies with abilities as ridiculous and/or unorthodox as his were but she was absolutely certain that if he had gone onto fight Syura as intended, he would not have lasted long in any way, shape or form against the psychopath.

Granted his ranged weapons provided him a major advantage against the warrior and from what she could tell, he certainly had a knack for catching opponents off-guard as shown by how he was able to ward the man off in a manner of seconds and his reflexes were certainly as sharp as a recently forged sword or Suzuka's nails but when compared to the immense focus on unorthodox fighting tactics that Syura possessed combined with how he wasn't a hot broad like she was, she would've assumed that he would be a goner.

Regardless, just the thought alone of Nines valiantly fighting both the psychopath and the young boy to a standstill sounded like a feat incredibly worthy of the Demons' praise and it filled her with an interest like no other. After about another minute or two of staring, the woman slowly raised herself from the bed, wincing slightly at the pain in her joints that continued to linger, and began to make her way towards the trooper before dropping to her knees by his side, watching as the brutal warrior was letting out deep controlled breaths in a natural rhythm.

"You know, I don't think I will ever get you." Mez thought to herself, her gaze locked on the helmet which possessed only the lightest of scuffs. "One moment, you threaten to kill me for wanting to ignore Danger Beasts and the next, you're suddenly acting like you're my older brother and are trying to defend me." A few seconds later, her face developed into a smirk. "Still, that was brave what you did back there, it's definitely something I will have to provide repayment for at one point or another." With the mention of the word "repayment", the blonde's eyes widened a bit right as one particularly odd question came into her mind.

Had Nines ever... well... kissed a girl? The reason why this admittedly very strange, random question popped into mind was simple. With all the time she had spent with him, not once has the trooper ever taken off his helmet. In fact, at no point has she ever seen a Stormtrooper actually go maskless, even when there was no battle to be had which just left her confused. In addition to that, no trooper seemed to ever lower or sheathe their weapons and even if they did, it was usually to switch to another tool whether it be small blaster pistols or even the massive batons they possessed like what Nines wielded. It was all rather strange to someone like her who had a team that due to their prior conditioning to combat Imperial Arms users, felt no need to actually take everything so seriously with the obvious exception being of course when the going got rough. Hell, not even the Empire seemed this on-edge before and were often very calm with the only exceptions being those that went outside the Capital's walls which was to be expected given the current dangers present with the Danger Beasts, Wild Hunt and the Revolutionary Army.

Of course, that wasn't to say she didn't like the armor and if she had to be honest, it certainly looked as though it would do its job in striking fear into the hearts of enemies with the blackened "frowns" present on the face and the striking combination of the shimmering white armor and the matte black undersuit. But in spite of all that, the curiosity was still present. What exactly were the troopers so worried about that they had to constantly be on their toes? This was especially something to ask when considering that in comparison to the Empire and all who inhabited the planet currently with a few exceptions here and there, the First Order looked as though they could take them all on and come out on top in a matter of minutes. Was it a rule? Did they have something to hide? All this and more was moving at a consistent pace until finally after one minute too many, her curiosity got the better of her.

Raising herself up slightly, making sure that her movements weren't sudden enough to wake him, Mez found herself being slightly closer to eye-level with the trooper helmet which from what she could tell, was not able to showcase his eyes in anyway to the extremely dark visor. Regardless, she slowly moved her hands inch by inch towards the dome until her fingertips were at the very least grazing the white shell. The smooth surface was surprisingly very cold despite the suit looking as though it was made more from plastic rather than metal which only became even more apparent when she eventually rested her palms against it. Just before she was ready to do it however, her "Spider-Sense" immediately went on the alert. From her experience with the team so far, if they were just as on edge as she thought they were then the results that could come of this would be catastrophic, as evidenced by the various different scenarios that flooded her mind. However, the warrior was no coward as a few seconds later, she took in a nice long breath which worked wonders in relaxing her body the moment she exhaled. Then, her grip tightened around the dome when suddenly she both watched and felt as one arm jerked upward and gripped one of her hands, the amount of pressure being exerted on them being firm but definitely not intended to break anything.

In the span of a few seconds and before she could react, the trooper thrust his free arm outward, his grip loosening on her right as the fist made contact with her stomach which sent her stumbling back into the bed. Without any further hesitation, the trooper jumped out of bed and was about to reach for his blaster when he heard her cry out.

"IT'S ME YOU DUMBASS!" Upon realizing his mistake, Nines immediately began to take a look around him. While a few details were definitely a little fuzzy right after experiencing the hard impact from before and while this didn't look ANYTHING like the First Order Star Destroyers he trained on before with the much more bland color scheme of beige and brown bearing no resemblance. He made the smart guess that this was their new sickbay for this particular HQ though certainly, that wasn't his main focus as evidenced by his rough change in tone.

"At what point did you think that was a good idea?" Nines questioned.

"Wait a second, so like checking up on my friends is not a good idea? I'm supposed to just let them d-"

"To be quite clear, we're NOT friends." Nines interjected, hands at his hips. "With how you are, I'd sooner try to join up with the Resistance than I would become friends with you." Mez's head cocked to the side.

"Resistance?" Mez said right as she stood up. "What in the hell is the Resistance?"

"Nothing you ever need to know. It's strictly..."

"Classified, I know." The woman said with a groan. "I've got you all figured out Shiny." Nines immediately tensed up.

"Excuse me?"

"What's the matter?" Mez asked, smirking. "Don't like the nickname I gave you, I just think it works given that shining armor of yo-" Frustrated, the trooper held up one finger.

"First of all, shiny was an outdated term used only for rookie troopers back during the Clone Wars and second..." Right at that moment, Nines used that same hand to poke into that girl's chest "You WILL show me respect!"

"Clone Wars?" Mez said with disbelief, taking a moment to push the trooper's hand down. "You seriously waged a war with clones?" Nines nodded. "Tell me, how did that come about? Were the soldiers all based off you and were fighting an impossible battle to get your hardass to smile?"

"That information is on a need-to-know bas-"

"FUCK your need-to-know basis!" Mez growled. "I want to at least go one day with at least something about your army."

"You want that?" Nines asked. "Here's an idea, why don't you actually earn my trust and be serious?" The warrior set her hands at her hips.

"If you want me to be serious then why don't you pull the stick out of your ass?"

"Because then I would be incompetent like you!"

"At least you would be living!"

"You call slacking off living? It's no wonder why the captain sent you off with me."

"Your captain didn't stay with me because she's an intolerant bitch!" Despite him having the helmet, Mez could feel the heat of Nines's glare, so much so that she feared it may actually succeed in burning through the visor.

"Bite your tongue or el-"

"Or else what?!" Mez yelled. "You're going to beat me? Kill me? That may have worked on me back then but after what happened last night, I think you're full of shit." Nines tensed up once more.

"What do you mean?" Mez rolled her eyes.

"Like I think you know exactly what I mean."

"Actually, I really don't." Letting out a frustrated sigh, Mez looked into the trooper's eyes, using every ounce of her willpower to keep from trying to shake the man.

"Really? You've already forgotten about your little scuffle with Syura?" At first, Nines seemed just as clueless as he was before until a few seconds later when he froze, the vision of him purposefully knocking Tatsumi straight into the psycho filling his mind. Of course, the idea of her actually knowing about this little moment seemed more than a little far-fetched since after all, he clearly recalled her being out cold when the fondling began. Knowing that she had him at long last, the blonde gave him her usual cocky smirk.

"So you do know?" Nines nodded and at that moment, her voice softened some. "Then let me ask you. Just... why?" Despite his best efforts, the trooper was drawing several blanks. It was quite a good question albeit if only because of what he thought of Mez which was more annoyance rather than hatred though some could easily make that mistake. For all intensive purposes, Mez was someone he was more disappointed by rather than angered. Compared to the other recruits he had to work with, she was by far one of the most competent, well-trained individuals that he had ever met with her showcase of various melee combat styles being one of the biggest treats that he had received, rivaled only by the few times he had seen Phasma in action. Hell, if it wasn't for her, he wouldn't have been able to retrieve that Imperial Arms of Syura's though it was nowhere to be found at that moment, most likely it was scavenged from his body during the pick-up.

However, that certainly did not make up for the constant amounts of Mez just, to put it rather bluntly, outright not giving a damn. Whereas her skills showcased the promise and sharpness of a hardened veteran like him, her attitude matched that of a spoiled child much more closely. From the way she casually tossed around expletives to the complete disrespect of his commanding officer and more, it seemed to him as though he was just as occupied trying to figure out why he hadn't killed her yet as he was on his training these days. He had no issues with the idea sure since he would not dare to challenge Phasma's rule especially after what happened on Starkiller but even after hitting her two times with the stun baton, she still continued to bicker with him like they were a married couple.

After a few more minutes, it seemed as though he at long last had the answer and he was ready to voice it when he heard the door open with a low beep.

"I can tell you're kind of wanting to leave a girl hanging right now so I'm just going to bounce." Mez said with a slight teasing edge to her voice before she proceeded to make her way down the hall. Being left in the dust, Nines just let out a frustrated sigh and after a few more seconds of thought, he began to make his way towards the training room, ready to sharpen the skills of the next generation of the First Order though there was one thought that filled his mind.

"That girl's an enigma. So disrespectful and yet she's so unbelievably talented. I'm not sure if I want to kill her now which means that maybe..." Nines immediately froze right as a shiver came trickling down his spine. Even though it was the first time this idea had came up, he already dreaded the inevitable amount of times it would reappear and how it would lead to some truthfully embarrassing moments.

"Maybe I'm starting to like her."

* * *

( _First Order Troop Transport_ )

Whereas Mez was still not feeling any sort of love for the First Order, the complete opposite could be said for her teammates.

Standing at the back of the dim, flickering transport there was the tall masculine Ibara and who many troopers had described as being the mistress of death, the highly sadistic Suzuka and if that doesn't give away exactly why they considered the unification between them and the First Order to be just fine, you would not be the only one. For Mez especially, it was unclear why they exactly trusted their new "allies" as much as they did. Was it out of fear? Would Honest have killed them for failing to save Bolic? Did Sten's death REALLY set that much of an example for them to follow? The only guess that seemed remotely viable mainly came down to the personalities of the two users themselves.

To say that these two were some of the most sadistic killers in the Empire would be a complete understatement as the only ones who could truthfully rival them would be Esdeath and Wild Hunt who shockingly enough, they didn't really take much of a liking to them with maybe one exception as evidenced by the discussion that was going on in the back.

"I'm kinda disappointed that I wasn't the one to kill Syura." Ibara mentioned, arms crossed and cocky smirk present.

"And why is that?" Suzuka questioned as she began to examine her main method of attack, her extremely long nails which earned her more than a few extended stares by the troopers who most likely were just praying that she didn't kill them all.

"I kinda felt the guy was taking my style." The warrior gave him a look of disbelief.

"You must be joking." Seeing that she knew him so well, he just let out a chuckle.

"I'm serious! Before he started trying to pull up his big boy pants, I was the only tall creepy man around and the moment this clown comes in, BAM! He completely steals my thunder and everyone forgets about the mighty Ibara."

"It's just human nature." Suzuka replied with a smirk. "At the very least he was punished, the lucky bastard." Smirking himself, the man looked his comrade in the eye.

"You kind of wish you were the one getting choked with that magic?" Ibara asked to which the woman nodded.

"If Esdeath was pleased by it then yes, yes I do wish that was the case."

"Just without the dying?" Suzuka shot him a look.

"Of course it would be without the dying what do you think I am, stupid?"

"I always thought crazy better suited you," The man replied. "after all, it's not often I meet a chick where chains and whips excite her so much only to have that taste move into lasers and magic."

"I take what I can get, remember it's as our training taught us. The more pain we experience..."

"The less we feel." Ibara finished with a grin. "Yep, I've memorized that down to the last letter." A few seconds later, he calmly raised his hand up to his face and tightened it into a fist before proceeding to examine his knuckles. "Though now I have a new goal."

"And what would that be?" After a little bit more, Ibara turned back towards Suzuka, his face being that of a sadistic grin.

"I want to see how many times my knuckles crack just by bashing Wild Hunt's skulls in." Suzuka returned the smile and turned towards the front, her arms crossing.

"That will be fun, though I will kind of miss hanging out with Dorothea." Ibara cocked an eyebrow.

"The blonde? I always thought ours were hotter."

"Good luck with that," Suzuka chuckled. "because you'll have to go through her 'knight' in order to get a piece of her."

"Knight?" Putting on the best false surprise she could, Suzuka faced her comrade with hands on her hips.

"Oh don't tell me you haven't heard, she's currently working with that one Stormtrooper, the one that killed Sten." His internal gears turning, it took him a grand total of three seconds for the answer to pop into his head.

"Wait, him?!" The woman nodded. "I thought she was with the other trooper. You know, the chromed one."

"Phasma? Apparently she found our girl, as she put it, 'a disrespectful whelp who needed more lashes and slaps when she was younger.'"

"Wow," Ibara began with a chuckle. "she pissed her off THAT much?"

"That's how the story goes."

"Oh how I would kill to see that." The conversation between this two continued on and on, much to the chagrin of the other troopers who by that point, were just itching for someone to just shoot them.

* * *

( _Kylo Ren's Shuttle_ )

When Esdeath first took notice of the command shuttle, she instantly fell in love with the design. The massive wingspan, the striking red cockpit, the way it perfectly blended in with the night with the only thing that could be seen being the few lights that lined the wings and undercarriage, everything that the First Order embodied was present on this one single ship. Mysterious, dangerous... deadly. For the general, this was her personal little early Christmas.

Standing right next to her with arms crossed, Kylo Ren was feeling more than a little distressed. Not with the mission and/or Esdeath since if he had to be honest, the general was everything he was hoping for a loyal follower of him to be like and after that torture session, he was already feeling quite confident in her abilities.

What WAS bothering him however was the small little holoprojection of a certain other general that he has now come to accept as being someone he just couldn't stand though he was certain that the latter shared the same thoughts.

"Ren, you've got to be kidding me!" Hux began, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I'd think that with how you've known me for years and years now, you would actually know already that I'm not." Kylo replied, trying his hardest not to show his annoyance, annoyance that Esdeath simply let him express despite her desire to join in on the conversation.

"This is completely stupid, not only have you killed a possible ally to the cause but you also decided to bring on someone completely random without any consideration for the consequences."

"First of all, the man or what's left of him was found near the unconscious bodies of FN-2199 and one of my new strike-force members which seems to indicate that he was not at all friendly with our troops. Secon-"

"Wait, new member?!" Hux interjected. "You mean to tell me that you brought on another new member without my knowing about it?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I brought on three." Kylo said with a nod to which Hux couldn't help but facepalm.

"By the Force you are by far the most insufferable excuse of a leader."

"I share the same sentiment towards you."

"There you go again trying to play the comedian." Hux replied, rolling his eyes. "You know, I wonder what Snoke is thinking right n-" Kylo immediately cut him off.

"Moving on, Esdeath is by far one of the most skilled warriors I've ever seen, to the point where I feel she may even rival the greatest of Jedi and Sith and she doesn't use the Force at all, she uses Imperial Arms."

"I'll believe it when I se-wait, did you say Imperial Arms?" The Dark Lord nodded, slightly taken aback by Hux's own surprise.

"I did, what about it?" After taking a few moments to think and gather his thoughts and clear his throat, the general began once more.

"The Supreme Leader told me a bit about this. Apparently thousands upon thousands of years back, the original Sith Empire was rather frustrated with how due to the high amount of Force-sensitives there were fighting in the war, they felt severely under-prepared and wanted some new weapons to combat this. Hearing their call, the one known as Malgus decided to answer this directly by using his skills in alchemy to create a set of weapons that had some links back to the Force. Their official title were Teigu though they were more commonly called Imperial Arms." Filled with disbelief, the general stepped into view.

"Impossible!" Esdeath called out. "The Imperial Arms were found on Earth with some even being created on this planet."

"That portion of the story I am unsure of," Hux began, hand on his chin. "possibly the Sith had discovered Earth before we did. After all, someone had to have traveled to this planet in order for there to be a Star Map but as I was saying. At first, the soldiers were seemingly pleased by their new 'toys'... that was, until they actually tried to use them. As a nasty little punishment for them even thinking of this, Malgus and the other Sith intentionally filled the weapons with a little prerequisite, that being the troopers had to withstand the massive amount of Dark Side energy that emanated from them. After about three days of weapons testing, they were deemed far too dangerous to wield comfortably and were therefore dumped on a nearby world." Kylo cocked his head to the side.

"And you know this how?"

"The Supreme Leader trusts me just as much as he does you Ren, as hard as that is to believe." The general replied.

"Snoke trusts loudmouths?" Before Hux could retort, the general stepped in once more.

"My apologies for butting in but who exactly is this Snoke?" Esdeath questioned. Not trusting her, Hux was just about to turn her down when Kylo stepped in.

"He's my master, Supreme Leader is his full title, he's the one that started the First Order." Before Hux could vent his frustrations, Ren turned his gaze back towards the angry little hologram. "Anyways, I understand your concerns but you will have to get used to seeing Esdeath around, I feel she might be one of the keys necessary to finding our girls."

"Oh you've got to be kidding me. First we head to a planet that we have no idea about and now you expect me to just openly trust someone that I've never met in my life to assist us in the operation? Ren, I find it quite marvelous that you find so many new ways of getting under my skin."

"It must be my gift in the Force, like how your troopers have the gift of being able to commit high treason." Hux facepalmed once more.

"For the last time Ren, I refuse to have you question my meth-"

"But that's not important." Kylo cut in. "What IS on the other hand is a simple request I have for you." Despite his severe hatred for the Dark Lord, the man knew better than to mess with Kylo Ren when it came to his plans. Also, considering his frustration with the warrior, he knew that this would provide at least some relief.

"What is it that you desire?" Hux questioned with a sigh. With timing that seemed as perfect as ever, the troopers turned toward him.

"Sir, our scanners picked up a few individuals just ten feet ahead." The pilot began "It's very hard to tell though it seems as though one is wielding a sword, one is quite round and another is female."

"That means we've found them." Esdeath cut in. Nodding, Kylo turned his attention back towards the holoprojection.

"You high above our coordinates?" Hux nodded.

"Considering I have to play along with this stupid plan yes I am."

"Tell the staff to set up for an orbital strike and send us a few TIE squadrons." The general's eyes widened.

"An orbital strike?! What the hell are you thinking?!"

"Just that there's no way the girls will be there and I want the planet to know the power we possess."

"But the orbital cannons have just recently been upgraded, they've never been tested on any other planet yet and we don't know how durable this one i-"

"When you detect our ships leaving the area, you will fire upon everything. Do I make myself clear?" Not buying it, after a few seconds of silence, the general let out an exasperated gasp.

"You... you MORON! You immature, bratty halfw-"

"Goodbye Hux." And just like that, the general's voice along with the hologram disappeared into nothingness with just the simple press of a button. Setting his hands behind his back, he shifted his gaze towards Esdeath who looked to be filled to the brim with curiosity. Opening her lips slightly, Ren immediately cut her off, having already guessed her question through the Force.

"Hux and I are always like that." Kylo explained with a sigh. "As a matter of fact, he and I have NEVER got along."

"Why is that?" The general questioned.

"He believes that my approach will only ruin the Order. It's rather typical of people like him." At that point, Esdeath began to think back to some of the people she had worked with over the years and sure enough, she could recall how there were more than a few warriors who weren't exactly keen about her ideas. Being able to relate, the general began to unknowingly wrap her arm around Kylo though he never seemed to make any attempt to shake it off.

"I feel he might just be jealous of your power." She said.

"Personally I think he's just an uninformed idiot."

"That too." Esdeath replied in agreement.

"Sir, we're approaching the landing zone and TIEs are coming in fast." The pilot alerted. At long last, Kylo gently shook the general's arms from him and unbeknownst to him, she was blushing the whole way through.

"Alert all transports nearby," Kylo ordered. "and make the drop right now."

"Sir yes sir!" He said with a salute before proceeding to hit a few buttons on his keypad with Esdeath and Kylo giving each other a knowing look of what was about to happen with the general even taking the time to crack her knuckles. After a little while longer, they turned to face the door as quiet filled the metal room, the low whirring and mechanical buzzes of the door lowering finally filling the air after about a minute of waiting. As soon as they took their first steps onto the soil below, only one thought filled the general's mind.

They had absolutely no idea what was about to hit them.

* * *

( _Wild Hunt HQ_ )

The air was filled with unrest and concern, every face in the room possessing some form of worry. It had been a few hours now since Syura went out to have his "playtime" and it had been about two more since he was supposed to return so naturally, the fear started to raise which is very odd given the group itself and their track record.

Starting out as the Empire's secret police force, everyone knew something was off when even the police's actions actually caught heat with the very group that created them. For those who thought the Empire was brutal, Wild Hunt was that and many more, their actions making the entire organization look like a bunch of cuddly teddy bears for they didn't just embark on the usual killing sprees. In fact, possibly the most infamous part about the group was their massive tendency to... violate those they came across. Of course, not every member was like that and there were at least a few that were semi-honorable such as the swordsman Izou but those were few and far between.

As with Syura, every member looked rather... odd to say the least with their ranks consisting of a rotund "clown", a singer with a bunny-girl outfit, a pirate that looked oddly feminine, the aforementioned swordsman and finally, a very young blonde girl who was dressed in an outfit very reminiscent of a certain other woman that fell down a rabbit hole. To many who first saw them, they all expressed how they looked like a walking circus and initially laughed them off...

Until they were straddled to the ground, screaming and begging for mercy while they were being mercilessly gutted before having their last moments of life being filled to the brim with the aforementioned "clown" showcasing his little "joke" by doing... unspeakable things to their children. Needless to say, the laughing was short-lived and Wild Hunt quickly became known as being one of the most dangerous groups to ever walk the face of the Earth though luckily for everyone, today just happened to be the time they decided to all kick back and unwind, at the very least until Syura came back.

"What's taking Syura so long?" The fat man began with a frustrated sigh. "He better be bringing us a gift if he's willing to keep us waiting like this."

"Lighten up a little will ya Champie?" The singer called from across the room. "Syura hasn't let us down just yet."

"Cosmina is right." Called a male voice, causing Champ's attention to be redirected towards the slim male pirate. "After all, it ain't easy moving around anymore what with the Empire declaring us fugitives." That his friend was most certainly right about. After their first case was a complete success, Wild Hunt set their sights on a small group who had tangled with them before and had wanted revenge for one member of their family, that group in particular being practitioners of the famous martial art known as the Imperial Fist. As expected, the group fought valiantly and ultimately wasn't enough to take them down but that wasn't what got them in trouble exactly.

One of their allies, a shirtless muscular man who was masked and happened to be a member of the Jaegers was ordered to assist them in the quelling of this resistance and during the fight, they decided to have a little "fun" with one of the female members and just so happened to have a chat about two women, a mother and a daughter who they expressed a massive desire to "toy" with. Unfortunately for them, the man they worked with also just so happened to be the husband and father and when also considering that some of the masters were only trying to defend their students and weren't at all trying to rebel against the Empire, that was all it took for the Empire to start gunning for them regardless of what Honest said on the matter. The news spread so wide in fact that even Esdeath had apparently sworn to kill them all if she reached them. With that in mind, the group went from village to village, constantly searching for a possible place to stay when finally, the western reaches had provided them with a home that they believed to be isolated enough to where they were safe... which made the air of unease even more odd. With this in mind, Champ let out a sigh.

"I know but it wasn't our fault that man had an adorable little daughter. Now I don't think I'll ever be able to have my 'time' with her." He said with displeasure.

"That we all agree with you on." replied Izou. "It was quite a shame, I was really looking forward to some good fights, it's times like this where I wish something would just swoop from the sky and challenge us." With eerie timing, a faint screech was suddenly heard, causing the group to immediately tense up.

"What the hell was th-" Champ quickly shoved his hand over the singer's mouth all while getting into his battle stance while the other members were just trying to figure out just what exactly the sound was. It couldn't have possibly been the Empire since they were too far out for them to be tracked and the screeching was unnaturally mechanical sounding. It couldn't be a Danger Beast since there has been no recorded evidence that one had the vocal strength to do that and finally, it absolutely couldn't be Night Raid who again, had no clue where they are and couldn't replicate that exact screeching noise which left them with only one option, an option that made itself clear once Cosmina's senses kicked in.

Without warning, the singer immediately used all her might to kick Champ to the side right as a piercing green ray of light came crashing through the building and straight into her head, causing her lifeless body to be sent helplessly hurdling through the wall, much to the disbelief of her comrades.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" Enshin cried out, his voice sounding more than a little concerned. No response being given, Champ began to slowly walk towards the hole in the wall, his gaze being set on something that was extremely terrifying. Four box-shaped ships made their landing alongside the "screeching demons" which whipped right past them, their horrifying screeches being exactly as what the newspaper described. While everyone else was just busy staring at their fates, Izou looked at it with a smirk.

"Finally," He began to himself. "some real action." With that said, he immediately drew his sword and began to charge towards the invaders just as the doors dropped down, revealing several platoons of white armor-clad soldiers who wasted no time in opening fire towards him. Using his skills in laido among others, the swordsman began to easily make his way through the battlefield, narrowly getting by the several red beams of light that flew at such a breakneck pace. Seeing his skills in action, Champ shook himself from his frightened state almost immediately and took up the mantle of leader right then and there.

"Everyone! ATTACK!" He shouted with the other members immediately charging their way out onto the battlefield with the clown ready to do the same when he saw something truthfully shocking. While everyone was still working on dodging the weapon-fire, Izou was already making progress, using his martial arts to disarm and knock around as many troopers as he could, sometimes going as far as to even turn their own weapons against them. After a few minutes however, things took a turn when he felt a piercing sensation in his chest, causing his eyes to shoot open as what felt flames began to nip at his heart though that could be due to the masked man who perfectly matched the description of a similar figure from a report of a village attack. At the same time as Champ's jaw dropped, the swordsman slowly shifted his gaze down to see a piercing red blade, sparking and crackling with energy as it began to slowly embed itself deeper and deeper into its fleshy slot.

After a few more seconds, the hooded warrior lightly gripped Izou's chin and cocked his head to the side and after the ensuing few seconds of this were up, the man without as much as a breath, withdrew his sword with his grip still being kept on his chin as he dropped to his knees. Looking at him just a bit more, he then turned his attention back towards Champ and in that small moment where his fury cleared, he felt as though he could see the gears turning in his head. Suddenly, with all his might, the masked figure flipped Izou's corpse through the air, an action that immediately caught the attention of Enshin. Seeing their opportunity, the troopers immediately opened fire and just like that, the pirate was gunned down before the clown's very eyes.

"YOU BASTARDS!" Champ shouted right as six orbs came floating into the air much to the surprise and interest of the man who immediately began to make his approach. Suddenly, the clown tossed one of the orbs towards the man and the moment it hit the ground, his reflexes kicked in as he immediately dashed away from the massive burst of lightning that came spraying from it. Seeing that her ally was in trouble, Dorothea wasted no time and leaped towards the man, fangs extended and ready to chomp down. Without a single hint of care, the figure held his hand out and almost immediately, the girl found herself flying straight towards the hand throat first, the grip tightening as soon as it made contact. After a few moments of struggling and gagging and just as he happened to stop an orb in midair much to the shock of Champ, the man effortlessly tossed Dorothea to the side and almost immediately after he did so, a giant icicle came flying through the air, impaling her against what remained of the building by her stomach much to the clown's displeasure.

A few seconds later, the figure tossed the orb he had suspended to the side and immediately went to flick his weapon on, the three red blades hissing to life. His fear slowly settling in, the clown tossed another orb towards the man to which he responded to it by lifting his saber, forcing him to watch as the weapon came splitting down the middle, the two halves making a huge explosion right as they hit the ground. Seeing that he was just a few feet away, the clown was just about to fight back when suddenly, his roars of anger became cries of pain right as the man jerked his hand outward and just like that, a hot piercing streak of lightning came pouring from his fingers with a force so great that it sent the fat one flying backward into where Dorothea was, his mass causing the thing to be pushed so far through the girl that her bottom half completely separated from her top and slid down to the ground in a bloody mess. As he continued to lay on the ground writhing pain from the continuous bolts that rippled through his system, he watched as the masked man turned towards a trooper that looked very similar to the rest with the main difference being they had a cape and their armor was chromed. After a few seconds of staring, they both gave each other a nod and almost immediately after the man's gaze returned to him, the trooper raised their blaster and called out an order in an oddly feminine voice.

"FIRE!" In just a few seconds and just as a massive triangular ship faintly appeared above the clouds, rows upon rows of red blasts came hurtling into Champ's body, inciting several screams of pain which was unusual given his insane durability. One laser blast after another came after what seemed like two milliseconds, ripping through his flesh like no other, to the point where even muscle and hints of bone were starting to be exposed. Despite this, it wasn't hitting his vitals though the worst part was that meant he had to endure the excruciating pain the whole way through. After a few more minutes, the blasts finally stopped right as the man raised the clown high into the air before proceeding to pull him forward and as soon as he was inches away, he swung upward with his weapon and from the horrific unnatural hiss it gave off along with the two bloodied halves of meat that hit the ground, that signaled the end of Wild Hunt much to the disappointment of Ibara and Suzuka with the former vocalizing this.

"Ah shit! I told the pilot he should've landed faster!" Ibara whined, much to the amusement of his comrade who was chuckling repeatedly. Flicking his saber off, Kylo Ren began to stare at the carnage all around him for a few seconds, reflecting on what he did. Back when he first started his training and even when he attacked Jakku, pulling off something like this and making an embarrassment of some of the most skilled fighters in history was something he never thought he would be able to accomplish and yet just a few minutes earlier, he was hacking weapons apart, tossing them to the side, overall he tackled that battle with such confidence that Vader himself would be proud of and as much as he hated to admit it, this did also bring some credibility to his family name since his father also tackled some missions like this. Looking towards his gloved hand, a thought played back in his mind.

"When I met Snoke I was but a learner..." A few moments later he balled up that opened palm into a fist right as he shifted his gaze back towards what was left of the clown.

"Now I am the master." A few seconds later, he turned his attention back towards the forest he came from and began to make his way towards it, casually turning his saber off after the first three steps with Phasma following close behind.

"That was too easy." Phasma expressed with disappointment.

"Maybe so," Kylo replied. "but what did you expect?" With that said, he immediately raised his communicator up and right then and there, the familiar crackling image of Hux came into view, his face clearly showing that of surprise.

"Didn't expect to see you so soon." Hux said.

"You mean you didn't want to see me so soon." Kylo corrected to which the general let out a sigh.

"After cutting me off for the second time since we got here, yes I was not quite looking forward to seeing your masked mug." replied Hux. "But no matter, I take it the opposition was easy to take down?"

"They were most pathetic." said Kylo, looking back at the wreckage. "Most likely due to us catching them off-guard, it's all yours now."

"Excellent," The general said, arms behind his back. "I shall begin the moment you step aboard your shuttle."

"You've definitely been listening, farewell general."

"Farewell Kylo." With that, the Dark Lord shut off his communicator and set in a small little compartment on his belt just as he was beginning to pass by Esdeath and the two Demons.

"Hey you!" Ibara called out. "What the hell man?! Why'd you have to disappoint us like that?!"

"There was no disappointment, you were just too slow and at the rate you're going, you're most likely going to miss the 'fireworks'." Immediately, the man's eyes widened with delight and curiosity. As the two made their way back towards their transport, Kylo, Phasma and Esdeath were left walking back to the shuttle, feeling VERY satisfied.

"Nice work though I do have one question." Kylo began, turning his attention towards Esdeath. "How did you know that I was going to be tossing the girl?" Paying no mind to the low faint hisses and whirs of the Finalizer and the fading screeches of returning TIE Fighters, the general looked back towards the Dark Lord with a faint blush gracing her face, clearly showcasing her pleasure in how he noticed her talents.

"I just had a feeling that you were going to be doing that," She explained. "like a little voice in the back of my mind." Hearing it described in that exact context, Ren's interest perked up a bit but before he could continue on, the captain cut him off.

"I have a feeling that one girl and FN-2199 should be awake by this time." Phasma said.

"It's a shame they couldn't come out and take part in this." Kylo replied to which the captain nodded.

"They earned that rest, especially FN-2199 considering he had to put up with taking down that one man." Right as their feet touched down on the cold metal of the shuttle, the Dark Lord nodded.

"I agree, he's one of the few normal troopers I trust these days aside from you."

"It's an honor to serve under you." Phasma said with a nod right as the door closed.

"I'm glad to hear you have that sentiment." With that all said and done, he walked up to the cockpit and crossed his arms.

"Take us up to the Finalizer," He ordered. "I think our new guest has earned her chance to set foot on it." Answering with only a simple salute, the men immediately prepped the ship for take off but before he could, Kylo set one hand on his shoulder.

"And send at least one of the transports back to pick up FN-2199 and Mez." With all that said and done, the massive behemoth's wings extended outward and flew off into the skies and towards the massive warship with the transports following close behind. With the sweeping view they had, Kylo immediately called Esdeath up to where he was and through the red tinted windows, they both watched as gigantic green lasers came pouring down towards what remained of Wild Hunt's base and before they knew it, what at first seemed like a combination of stone and wood soon went up in one massive fireball, a fireball that from what Esdeath could see, scattered various body parts and pieces of structure across the land and needless to say, it was the most beautiful sight that she had ever seen, so much so that it literally almost brought a tear to her eye, something that was almost unheard of.

At this point, the general truthfully could claim to have seen it all and overall, she couldn't have been any happier. The depression from losing Tatsumi now becoming a fading memory with every passing second and in its place came several thoughts about what the future could entail and by this point, she could care less about how she pretty much deserted the Jaegers and the Empire. Setting her hands behind her back and as the fireball began to dissipate, one thought filled her mind.

"The age of the Empire is over and from its ashes..." Right as her thought completed, her face developed into a small smile.

"The First Order will rise."

* * *

 _Author's Addendum:  
_

 **So that I don't get any comments about this, yes, I do know what the actual reason was for Wild Hunt being called fugitives. I understand some people may not like how I'm playing a bit with canon but honestly, this was the only way I could have it where they're far away from the Empire and are put out of commission.  
**

 **Either way, thank you so much for reading this and please, do leave your thoughts in the reviews.  
**


	12. Chapter 12

( _Village Remains_ )

It all happened so fast. One moment, everyone was just getting ready to check out an area that Esdeath was said to have visited and right then and there, the entire group felt as the Earth seemed to shake right as what sounded like an explosion was heard off in the distance and when they looked up, they could've swore that they saw smoke raising into the air.

Curiosity overtaking him, Budo gave the order for them to haul it all towards the source of the smoke and of course, they listened without hesitation with again, the exceptions being Kurome and Wave who in particular wasn't exactly having the best of times in regards to their new commander who while he definitely wasn't as aggressive as Esdeath, just his broad appearance and the stories Bols gave him were more than enough to leave him actually wishing for the ice queen's return. After several minutes, they finally came across the wreckage and what they saw caused the swordsman's jaw to drop right as the scent of burnt flesh filled his nostrils.

By this point, one would've rightfully expected that complete decimation was something that wouldn't be that surprising anymore and in the case of most of the Jaegers and especially Budo, you were completely right. However, for members such as Wave and Run, this was something that they found they would NEVER get used to, especially since when compared to the previous villages they explored, the level of death and destruction presented here was almost unreal.

There was not a corpse to be found, only burnt chunks of flesh. There was not a single structure that stood up tall and proud, only shards of wood and stone. There was no green grass, only tall hot fires that still were at a reasonable size and were still continuously crackling with energy and finally, there was no fresh oxygen to be had and instead, what was in its place was the putrid stench of rotting, burning flesh and ash which Wave learned the hard way when he tried to take in a deep breath, only to be left hacking up a storm once the soot in the air entered his throat.

On the other hand, the swordswoman in his arms had absolutely no words to describe what she was seeing though what was especially frightening to her was her complete lack of... well... reaction. As was to be expected being an assassin for as long as she was, death and destruction was something she had become desensitized to and after so many years of doing so, just the act of torture was something she would shrug off before going back to chowing down on her cookies and not once had it ever bothered her before... which made it all the more worrying when she found that all just so happened to change.

Throughout the whole experience, Kurome began to slowly hate herself more and more with every passing moment. She was meant to be one of the most powerful sword-users alive, able to compete with the best of them and so much more and not only that but her enhancements made her essentially into a super soldier VERY much like the ones she'd see in various books that the children of various villages read. She had killed literally HUNDREDS before Esdeath put out a call for her services which effectively put the days of her being the scared, timid little sister behind her which is why this particular experience left her asking this question.

Why was she going back now? Ever since the news about the First Order and their exploits first got out there, her entire life seemed to change right before her eyes and her metaphorical reset button seemed to be hit. Her dreams were no longer filled with worries of what the Jaegers would do to her if she failed, they were now about this masked man in this one location constantly chasing her with what looked to be a blade of red hot energy. Every single time she heard the name, it caused her to tense up with a chill traveling up her spine seconds later and finally, just about every time she thought back to her previous encounter with the Stormtrooper, she still could feel his steely mitts still gripping and shaking her as if he had never left. Hell, the experience was so rough that by this point, the thoughts of killing her sister seemed to be slowly leaving her. Seeming to sense this, she felt as her body became a bit warmer, causing her to look up into Wave's eyes, his face encompassing all innocence and understanding which was something that especially in these tough times, she grew to appreciate it which was odd given her treatment of him way earlier.

Despite all the times she told him to relax, Kurome had to admit that secretly, she was happy that he continued to refuse her, a thought that she couldn't help but smile at. Wave, the seaman who she constantly teased and mocked back when he first joined the group was now becoming her one true source of comfort as all the madness just continued to spread. The one man who from the very beginning seemed to be far too innocent for a group like the Jaegers had actually become the one thing that was preventing her from losing her sanity. If one would've told her that all this was going to happen a few weeks earlier, she would've called that person an idiot and shrugged it off but with the fact that it was happening now, it really was quite the surprise though it didn't quite meet the surprise (or lack thereof) that filled their leader who was currently down on one knee, examining one half of Champ's head which due to the explosion, had most of the flesh and face-paint blown away only to show portions of skull and a mixture of fresh and dried blood.

"I knew that everything had to come tumbling down at some point." Budo thought as he continued to examine the remains, his finger carefully grazing the head, rubbing off any excess dust and debris. Despite the idea that a group like Wild Hunt, whose masterful ability to make the Empire look like a bunch of babbling fools was so well known that it was surely going to convince various villages to start an uprising, would be wiped out in the blink of an eye being shocking to most people, Budo hardly thought anything of it and somehow just knew that with all the damages they caused, their death was inevitable though the only thing he was actually shocked at was how it didn't happen any sooner. Standing up straight and with hands on his hips, the general took a moment to look around at all the carnage, his thoughts of the group being... less than stellar to say the least.

Of course, he'd be lying if he said there wasn't a single thing that Wild Hunt did right which they did in quite plentiful doses. After all, it was through their infamy that they had helped to crush several uprisings which in turn led to those that were planning on fighting back to just sit back down and keep quiet for all of eternity. Not only that but for how disgusting he was, Syura he found to be surprisingly charming and charismatic. Granted the talks weren't very intuitive but there was a certain degree of fascination the general had with just how the man conducted himself, how he could just be so unbelievably cocky and snarky against overwhelming odds.

On the other hand, that was also one of his and by extension Wild Hunt's greatest, plentiful downfalls, downfalls that he often couldn't help but comment on. While most of the Empire's dealings was in fact kept secret to the point where some of their own men didn't even know the backdoor details, what certainly was not kept hidden away was the general's opinion of Syura's little posse. After only a few days, it became extremely apparent that Budo was not one to shy away from letting his feelings be known about this team. From the very beginning in spite of some of the more interesting times, the general hated Wild Hunt's guts, he hated them so much in fact that it went far into the realm of absurdity. Their cocky, smug behavior while intriguing, he felt as though it was an insult to the Empire as were their "methods" of quelling uprisings. To Budo, torture was a necessity and he would often not shy away from getting his hands dirty as many imperials would tell you. However, there was a certain philosophy he had regarding this in that one must only go for means that are absolutely necessary and not excessive which was why he often showed disappointment in how his fellow teammate, the ice queen Esdeath often indulged in the idea of "making a man scream for personal pleasure." more than she did do her job.

The differences between the two and Wild Hunt all came down to philosophy. For Budo and the few times he was brought into interrogate a man, the most extreme he would go is maybe a broken bone or two but never would he overdo it and while on occasion he had used his Imperial Arms to shock his opponents into submission, it never was used to an extreme degree to where the man was just begging for death. Which was exactly what Wild Hunt didn't follow and if you ever were one of the poor fools who were in their warpath, it was often suggested that you should just "do the deed" and spare them the trouble because even for those who survived the carnage, they were left with massive scars both physical and psychological because not only did Wild Hunt indulge in brutality, they also indulged in violation otherwise known by its more direct terminology, sexual assault.

Every year, it was showcased that rate of assault in the capital was literally in the hundreds with Wild Hunt being responsible for over 83% of it all. Hell, there was even one point back in the 19th of May that it had gone up to about 99% and no matter the case, the feeling for Budo was always the same.

Pure, unrestrained disgust. A feeling that would go on to never leave him and even as he continued to examine the brutalized remains of what was once considered the Empire's elite fighting force, he just couldn't muster up any sort of remorse which especially showed in his expression as he lifted up Champ's decapitated head which was that of pure contempt.

"You got exactly what you deserved," Budo mentally began. "regardless of what the prime minister thought of you all, I knew exactly what you were and how you were going to end up in the near future. A broken, pathetic experiment that became less and less about fighting for the people and more about gathering as much attention as humanly possible because as you said it yourself, the Jaegers apparently 'stole your thunder' and you needed to reclaim it." His teeth gritting, the man's grip slowly began to tighten on the bloodied skull, its structure just ever so slightly cracking under the pressure. "Well I 'regret' to inform you that the Jaegers did not steal your fame. In fact, it NEVER belonged to you in the first place. Whereas the Jaegers were loyal, powerful individuals who kept the Empire's interests in mind at all times. You were just a bunch of stubborn young fools who couldn't keep their hormones down that only served to make our great leadership look like a pitiful shell." With that final word, the general's hand snapped shut with ease, the charred bone immediately shattering upon impact. Without a shred of remorse, the general tossed the remains to the side and gave one last look around him.

"I have absolutely no desire to keep you or your disgusting antics in my memory and would rather you remain dead and buried for all of eternity." During those last few minutes of looking, the general had to admit that there was at least something about the image of the burning buildings and such that touched his heart and it had absolutely nothing to do with Wild Hunt at all.

It was the villagers who initially paraded around there and when thinking of it, the general eventually came to the realization that there was not a single dead citizen in sight. No body parts, no bones, no limbs, there wasn't even a single hint of any villager involvement such as pots, pans or clothes... which painted a grim picture in his mind, that picture being of Wild Hunt upon first discovery of the village, slaughtering all in their path in order to make their own personal safe-haven. After a few more moments of thought, Budo found himself not wanting to look at the carnage anymore and turned back towards the Jaegers, just as Bols was drawing near, the sight of his face bringing some form of solace which he welcomed regardless of how small it was.

"Sir, we couldn't find a single body anywhere." Bols said with a slight hint of sadness.

"Of Wild Hunt or the villagers?" He asked, arms crossed to which the masked man just shook his head.

"Neither unfortunately, it seems as though the First Order just cleaned house." Before the general could speak up, a certain young warrior came calling seemingly from up above which likewise directed both his and Bols's gaze upward to Run who was just flying overhead, his massive wings flapping with a consistent rhythm, kicking up whatever remaining dust and soot was in the air.

"He's right general," Run reaffirmed, his wings retracting as soon as he touched down. "we've checked every possible area and there has been absolutely no sign of any real corpses or at least, complete ones." Hearing that one description got Budo thinking and at that moment, he recalled with surprise and interest that the blonde already had to fly out several feet, scouting the area itself and the forest that surrounded it. Not only that but he also could remember how as he continued to walk along the trail, the group saw a stray severed ear, covered in a mixture of dirt, ashes and as what was to be expected, a combination of dried and fresh blood. Considering that all happened when they weren't even a few feet into the village, that alone got the general's heart pumping wildly and his mind to race through all the different possibilities with all of them being shunned for one clear conclusion.

The First Order not only had no use for Imperial Arms... but they also had a weapon that was JUST as powerful as the one the emperor possessed and with that one thought, it was for the first time in several years that the general actually felt a chill travel up his spine.

"General Budo, are you alright?" Immediately, the general shook himself free of his minute long trance and turned towards Run, giving him an assuring nod.

"I just had a thought pop into my head." He explained. "About the First Order I mean." The man cocked an eyebrow.

"If you don't mind me asking, what was it?" Run's voice showed clear concern, especially with his suggestion. "If everything is becoming too much of a hassle for you we can search another ar-"

"That won't be necessary," The general interjected, his tone rather stern. "I'm not worried, I'm just... conflicted."

"What do you mean exactly by conflicted?" After taking in a nice long, deep, relaxing breath, Budo continued.

"If the prime minister is right, finding Esdeath won't be an issue in anyway and the First Order could possibly become our number one solution for this war." Right then, the general couldn't help but wince slightly. Honest was his superior and has been so for almost thirty years now but no matter how many times he tried, he just couldn't shake his true feelings for the man with every time he has had to express his loyalty leaving him with the massive urge to vomit. Finally after a few more moments, he took in another deep breath before Run had the chance to speak and continued on.

"On the other hand, if he's wrong..." A few seconds later, he looked down at his hand, picturing in his palm the fat one's stubby neck and the moment it metaphorically popped into frame, he squeezed, HARD, to the point where his nails were slightly digging into his flesh.

"Then that just gives me one more reason to hate the stubborn bastard." With that final word, the general walked off into the wreckage of the building, leaving Bols and Run to discuss among themselves about what exactly might've been going on with Budo and by extension, the Empire as a whole.

* * *

( _Finalizer_ )

"ALL UNITS CLEAR THE LANDING AREA!" Shouted the intercom, its demand echoing all throughout the empty halls with every trooper who heard it being sent into a hurry with the only exception being the suited red-haired General Hux who just happened to come through the door right then and there, his face showing a degree of intensity. Taking his first steps out onto the cleanly polished metal floors, the general couldn't help but think back to the few times he actually saw this area of the ship with the previous moments being too few and far between to even recall them completely and if he had to be honest, he couldn't even begin to understand why this was the case.

Rivaled only by the abandoned Project Eclipse, the Finalizer was to him what the destruction of the Death Star was to the Rebel Alliance. A glorious, TOWERING behemoth of an accomplishment, this was one of the general's first signs that the Empire's comeback was both actually happening and that it was going to be a massive success. With the Galactic Concordance having prevented them from keeping a massive star-fleet, he could recall how in the initial days of the war, the Finalizer was ALL that they had in the form of warships. Though if he had to be honest, he also felt that it was all that they needed.

With enough space to store entire fleets worth of ships, weapons powered by Kyber crystals that could rip through several squadrons with ease and armor so dense that not even the force of three bombing runs could make a scratch in it and with the help of the Cortosis materials they mined on various worlds, not even the mighty blade of a lightsaber could do anything, this single Star Destroyer to Hux was all the muscle they needed and felt that it made both Vader's flagship the Executor and the aforementioned Eclipse look like bantha fodder.

However, it was clear the ship wasn't perfect. In the moment that Starkiller Base went down in flames, it was only thanks to pure luck that the ship was several miles away from the blast radius and even then, the sheer force of it still managed to reach and jostle the ship around which he guessed was the Force's way of knocking their egos down a few pegs, getting them to realize that it would take more than one destroyer to win the war. With this in mind, it was with complete surprise that he found that Kylo had taken note of this too and so as he was training with Snoke, he also made sure to pop the question a few times about possibly providing more Star Destroyers which he had no quarrel with. After salvaging what they could on Jakku and with the technological advancements they had, they were able to make at the very least seven whole new Star Destroyers with at least triple that being made in a plant that was way too far off in the Outer Rim for any Resistance scanner to track.

Funnily enough, Hux himself found that the idea of making more ships like the Finalizer was actually something he was unsure of due to him, as he put it, deeming it as being so much overkill that they might as well just build three more Death Stars while they're at it. In spite of that, deep down he knew it was a necessity and by the time most of the ships were complete, he couldn't help but stare out in those initial few moments, taking in all the blood, sweat, tears and craftsmanship that went into making a truthfully remarkable killing machine and even now, as he continued to stand perfectly still with hands behind his back, staring out into the vastness of space and Earth's orbit, he couldn't help but take those moments to admire every exquisite detail.

Unfortunately, all that couldn't last as a few seconds later, the low hum of ships knocked him back into reality, causing his head to jerk towards the sight of the transports along with Kylo's massive shuttle making their landing and in the usual order of the transports going first and the shuttle going last. The metal doors came down with a pop, and almost immediately, the air was filled with the sound of someone gasping with excitement along with boots stomping against the stainless metal floors.

"Holy shit," Mez gasped right as her Nines stepped onto the surface of the warship. "like, how much of your junk did you have to sell to get something like this?" The trooper shot her a look.

"This ship is the crowning achievement of the First Order," He began. "very few if any commoners have actually set foot on here so please, show some..."

"Blah, blah, blah, respect. Like, no need to repeat yourself."

"If there was truthfully no need, you would've shut up by now and started acting like a soldier."

"And start being boring like you?" Mez scoffed. "Please, I would much rather keep my humanity thank you."

"It seems as though you've mixed humanity up with stupidity."

"And like, your confusing of loyalty for having a stick up your ass isn't the exact same?" Just before he was ready to come in with a retort, FN-2199 just let out a defeated sigh, turned his gaze towards the front and kept moving with Hux watching them the whole way through with a face full of shock.

"Since when did Ren start allowing prostitutes to join the First Order?" He thought to himself, not bothering to pay much attention to the other ships which at the very least had several people stepping out in uniform. After a few more seconds, he shifted his attention towards the massive metal door that dropped down, revealing the Dark Lord, his new compatriot Esdeath and Captain Phasma who all walked out onto the floors with ease with their new member clearly not being able to help but gaze all around her. Though what mostly caught his attention about her was just how she was one of the only new recruits that looked as though she'd have been handpicked by him.

From just her initial appearance alone, Hux could tell that this was a woman who commanded attention and loyalty which was especially a requirement if one was looking to be a general in the Order. After a few more seconds, the Dark Lord finally greeted him.

"General Hux, what a surprise to see you out here." Putting on the best fake smile he could, Hux nodded.

"I just wanted to get a good look at our new additions," He began. "after all, if you're going to defy me then I guess I should give a personal check on what the fuss is all about."

"There is nothing to fear," Phasma said right as she walked up. "Esdeath is an exceptionally skilled warrior and one who definitely fits the mold of the First Order, I saw it myself."

"Is that so?" The captain nodded, leaving Hux to take a moment to gather up his thoughts. "Well I'm disappointed to say captain that I'm not exactly the most trusting." The general took that moment to shift his gaze towards both Kylo and the general. "But I will take your word for it if these two gents can maybe spare some time with me in a nice chat." Nodding her off and after giving him her salute, the captain walked off, leaving the three to walk down the massive hangar of the ship which overall, Esdeath could not get enough of.

"Compared to the barracks, this makes that place look like a pigsty." She thought to herself with the comparison actually having more truth to it than one would think. While this could be an issue based around the Empire clearly having nowhere near as much space in the capital as they would have in a warship like the Finalizer, she still could recall how much of a mess the barracks were every time she went into them.

Every trooper was clumped together like animals, the smell of sweat and body odor was almost unbearable and more often than not, fights would break out which would lead to more soldiers killing each other than even the Revolutionaries would. The Finalizer on the other hand, it was the complete opposite. Not only were the design aesthetics again quite representative of the First Order's power and presence but the space of the room was filled with nothing but cooperation. Just by taking one quick glance, she saw troopers patrolling the area, tests being performed on what appeared to be a technology that could allow them to withstand extreme heights, pilots entering their fighters to go for both patrols and performance tests. For every soldier she saw break out with fists swinging back in her days with the Empire, she could tell that the First Order went above and beyond by having teams of over 40 troopers doing something far more productive. Unfortunately, she found herself becoming a bit too wrapped up in it all and after a few more seconds, she was finally shaken from this by the sound of Ren's mechanical voice.

"I see you're appreciative of our tech." Almost immediately, Esdeath turned her attention back towards the Dark Lord and gave him a nod.

"It's a truthfully marvelous ship." She replied, trying her hardest to hide her blush, a sight that the general had to admit was a little humorous.

"Tell me, did your empire have anything like this?" Hux questioned to which the general shook her head.

"If they did that would be a damn miracle." The general smiled at the comment for a brief moment before turning his attention back towards the door, using only hand gestures to signal for them to move on which they happily obliged.

"Did you find anything pertaining to the girls yet?" Hux asked as the three entered a long narrow hallway.

"Negative," Kylo said with the shake of his head. "although as I mentioned, we did uncover the..."

"Imperial Arms, yes I'm quite aware of that." Hux cut off. "Well at the very least this again, makes our trip not entirely worthless."

"Or in other words, you're beginning to understand the benefits of this?" Hux let out a sigh.

"More or less, though really this is hardly what I'd call beneficial."

"Forgive my intrusion but why exactly is it not a benefit to you?" Esdeath asked. With his attention focused solely on crunching buttons on a keypad, Hux gave his response.

"You see, we're not exactly as you might've guessed, from your galaxy." He began as the three stepped into the elevator. "We actually were originally supposed to remain there to deal with a few... issues."

"Issues? What kind?" Esdeath asked with a cocked eyebrow. Of course, the general was just about to keep silent when Ren barged in.

"Issues with the Resistance." Ren began. "They're a small group of rebels who have been continuously fighting our rule like a bunch of spoiled children. Has your Empire had anything like that?" Before the general could vent his frustrations, the woman nodded.

"The Revolutionary Army has been quite the pain in our sides." She explained. "They're currently funding a group called Night Raid, a bunch of assassins who wield Imperial Arms all in the vain attempt of trying to bring peace when they're..."

"Just being a sorry lot of fools who have no idea what true power really is." Hux finished. "Well, at least I can say that you definitely understand what we're going through." Feeling proud of herself, the general just stood up straight and let a small smile develop right as the elevator halted, the doors rattling open to reveal the bridge which provided just the perfect overview of space. Taking a moment to step out, Hux finished his thoughts.

"But regardless, you may have gained Ren's trust but I can assure you that it will take a lot more to gain mine."

"Is that so?" Esdeath asked, smirk still present. "Well what if I told you that I willingly gave myself to Kylo unarmed AND that I gave him information surrounding the weakness of my empire." Eyes widening, Hux immediately shifted towards Ren who gave him a nod.

"It's true." He stated as matter-of-fact as he could manage. "In fact, she has already given us the name of the prime minister who runs this whole operation." The general shifted his attention back towards Esdeath.

"His name is Honest and needless to say, he definitely isn't as charming or as fit to rule as you gentlemen are."

"Wait, his name is actually... Honest?" Esdeath immediately nodded with Kylo having clear amusement in the general's flabbergasted expression.

"And yet Esdeath isn't as strange of a name to you?"

"To be quite frank, I thought the galaxy had already numbed my senses to stupidity such as that." Hux replied before taking a few seconds to gather himself. "Anyways, either I am dreaming or you actually have done something right for once."

"I don't make mistakes general, she is one of our best new recruits."

"The Force doesn't make mistakes, you on the other hand are about as mindless and irritating as a huttlet."

"From what I can recall huttlets don't have a connection to the Force." Hux rolled his eyes much to Esdeath's amusement.

"The ability to use the Force does not make you competent Ren."

"I could say the same for your ability to shou-"

"ON the other hand! At the very least Esdeath's already proving herself to be quite the supporter." Right then, the general's brow started to furrow. "But that doesn't exactly give us the best idea on what we should do with this emp-"

"I believe we do actually." Esdeath cut in. "Kylo and I formed it on the flight over here." Immediately the general's eyes widened once more.

"You two..." Esdeath nodded. "formed a plan... together?"

"Is there a problem general?" Kylo questioned, head cocked to the side, the general shook his head.

"It's just that, it's so rare to see you actually working out a plan instead of just rushing in blind."

"I work out plans with you." Ren replied with arms crossed.

"I would hardly call our chats as 'working out a plan'."

"Maybe it's just the Force doesn't like you."

"Or maybe you're just an idiot." Hux muttered under his breath before continuing on. "Anyways, what is it that you've got?" Immediately, the Dark Lord turned towards Esdeath, signaling only with subtle head movements that he wanted her to explain the plan. With great honor and without a single hint of doubt, the general did just that.

"Long before I came into contact with Kylo Ren, Honest made it rather clear to me that it wasn't a fight he was seeking with the First Order despite all the villages affiliated with the Empire that you destroyed but rather, he was seeking an alliance." Hux's eyes widened right as he let out a small chuckle.

"He must really be that desperate if he requires someone from another world to protect them." Hux thought, listening with great intent and patience.

"I expected about as much, overall my opinion of Honest has dropped over the years but I think if it's an alliance he wants then he will get that 'alliance'." Hux immediately shook his head.

"An interesting notion but I think we'll pass, the First Order needs no assista-"

"Let her talk Hux, trust me on this." Kylo interjected. Seeing her chance, the general continued on.

"That's just it though, you're absolutely right. With all these weapons, all this tech and your army as a whole, joining forces with the Empire will neither weaken nor strengthen you, rather it will be nothing but a worthless little heel with the only forces that will serve you well being my Jaegers who aren't exactly the most... keen shall we say about the idea."

"I expected about as much." Hux said with a complete lack of surprise. "But why tell me this if the purpose is to form an alliance?" The general smirked.

"Because the purpose is not to form an alliance but rather..." She lifted her head, her smirk now being that of a full-on grin. "it's to rip the Empire apart from the inside and have the First Order set itself up in its place." If Hux wasn't sure of reality then, he most certainly was now. Even with some systems who were loyal to the Galactic Empire, they had absolutely no intention of joining with the First Order and even for the few that did, all it ever amounted to was a bunch of poorly written, pathetically organized drivel about how they were just so powerless without any form of assistance and that they needed them in order to survive in their fight against the Resistance, a notion that was so unbelievably idiotic that even Kylo had admitted that he had to resist slicing the speaker to pieces right on the spot and sometimes, that was exactly what happened.

Yet here he was now, in that small, dimly lit room where Kylo usually did his meditating actually talking with someone who wanted no alliance but instead sought to put the First Order in a position of actual power over the planet. Something that sounded FAR too good to be true and left him at a small loss for words.

"Y-You must be..."

"Oh but I'm not," Esdeath interrupted. "you see General Hux, like you, I too am of that same position and very much like how you see Ren, I have seen several moments of idiocy in my time. To put it rather simply, the Empire is no empire rather, it has more in common with unyielding tea kettle than it has to an army. We're plagued by constant internal struggles, poor training, soldiers who clearly are either far too young and stupid or too old and frail and this is all thanks to that old, fat, pathetic, disgusting slob of flesh we call Prime Minister Honest." Using the few colorful words given, Hux tried his best to picture what this Honest supposedly looked like with most of them just coming out as looking like the legendary Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi except far more sad and pitiful than what was expected. After a few more moments, Esdeath smirked once more.

"However, the First Order so far has proven itself to me as being exactly what the Empire used to be and so much more. As I mentioned, the technology is truthfully remarkable but not only that, there is clear leadership. In fact, I'm complimenting the fact that there is even leadership at all. With the way you conduct yourselves, the way you train your soldiers, everything is exactly what I wanted from the Empire for years on end."

"Then why do you speak as though you want to go back?" Hux asked. "I understand trying to meet with us so that you have the info to go back to the prime minister with but from the sound of it, you want to stay FAR away from it all." The general shook her head.

"Actually, I was thinking of someone much younger," She began with one hand on her chin. "someone far more... experienced in negotiations." Being no fool, the general immediately realized who exactly she was referring to and at first, he was ready to turn it down and would've if it weren't for the... odd sense of honor he felt. At long last, he was going to be doing just a bit more than just watching over monitors and fussy admirals. Being as conditioned as ever though, the man did his absolute best and succeeded in keeping his excitement hidden.

"You want me to talk with this fat man?" Esdeath nodded.

"Considering that Kylo Ren would risk far more guards going after him due to his direct involvement with the village attacks, I think someone like you is far less likely to encounter any issues."

"But wouldn't my patches give my allegiance away?" The general shook her head.

"The Empire so far has no clue what the symbol of the First Order looks like." She began. "It would take a little while before they deduce that you're from this group and even then, I think Honest wouldn't try and stop you if his talks are to be believed." Right then and there, Esdeath held out her hand.

"So what do you say?" Hux was left pleasantly surprised by the woman, he of course had good offers brought to him before but there was something about Esdeath's approach that seemed far more... trustworthy. The way she already came in with no weapons and essentially gave away the name of her commander proving to be way too open and clear-cut for him to consider it possible treason. With that in mind and after a few more seconds of thought, Kylo watched as the hardass general carefully grasped Esdeath's hand and proceeded to shake it.

"Very well, if what you say is true then I shall go." Hux began, his tone softening some. "I know this might be against my better judgment but with how much you've given us, you've already proven yourself to be worthy of my trust."

"I'm very glad to hear that." Esdeath said with a nod. After a few seconds, Hux pulled his hand away and gave her a salute.

"Welcome to the First Order Esdeath, please feel free to ask around and make yourself at home." With that said, Hux immediately pushed his way past Ren, stopping only when he was just a few inches from the elevator door. "Oh and when you have the time, do change out of that old outfit of yours, we here like to keep some uniformity." In response, the general nodded and with that, Hux made his way out the door and as soon as he was certain that he was gone, Kylo immediately made his way towards one side of his room and began to open up a small compartment, Esdeath managing to notice in just a few seconds.

"What are you doing?" The general asked with hands on her hips as she proceeded to make her way towards Kylo, stopping to take a quick glance at the charred, stone-grey helmet that was present in the room.

"You came without weapons right?" Esdeath nodded.

"I did so in the case you thought I was bluffing."

"You knew what I was going to do in that one fight because of a 'voice' in your head correct?" The general nodded once more.

"I like to think it's just my intuition as a soldier." With one final question resting on his mind, the Dark Lord slowly drew back as he examined the small device he held in his hands, one that he remembered scavenging from the deepest depths of Korriban, one that he had managed to fix up seemingly for this one purpose. Finally after a few more seconds, Kylo opened his mouth once more.

"Just something that's on my mind, I know that my name has gotten out there but I have to ask. Just HOW did you know that I was who you were seeking?" Finding that the answer was clear as day, Esdeath responded without much hassle.

"It's quite simple really, I just... sensed your aura." Ren immediately froze, his assumptions and predictions were slowly becoming a reality.

"You... sensed me?" She nodded.

"It was always this natural ability I had," She explained. "I guess that's what happens when you are a daughter in the Partas Clan." Kylo felt something check off in his head.

"The Partas Clan... I could've sworn I heard that name before. Could she be..." Looking slightly concerned, Esdeath was just about to open her mouth when Kylo suddenly stood up.

"In that case, there's something I have for you." Kylo said. "A surprise if you will." The general's eyes widened out of curiosity.

"A surprise?" Kylo nodded.

"It's something that became a tradition in my galaxy. Now shut your eyes and hold out your hands." Doing as she was told, the general calmly laid her palms out in front of her, her face having a combination of peaceful relaxation and a slight hint of anxiety. Seeing his chance, the Dark Lord carefully removed the tool from the compartment, shutting it with the Force seconds later and turned towards Esdeath, his opinion of her becoming even more positive upon learning of her connection. Slowly, carefully, like he was handling an infant, he lowered the small device into her hands, her grip tightening around it in an instant.

"It's cold..." She commented. "like metal." To her, it was almost as though Kylo handed her a sword or a weapon of some kind though she truthfully would never know until she opened her eyes and thankfully, the order wasn't too far off.

"You may open them now." Slowly, the general's eyelids slid upward and she looked down in her hands and... well... she didn't know what to make of it. The "gift" if you could even call it that, looked like her old rapier though slightly more futuristic and like it was missing the blade. The color combination matched the First Order's somewhat with the exception being the slightly dull silver present on the handle and the various panels and rivets that lined the hand-guard. Seeing her face shift from confusion into that of disappointment, Ren reached out and carefully positioned her hand so that she was holding it upward and so her thumb was lightly caressing the red button.

"Press down and you'll see what it is." Unsure of what he meant, the general after a few more seconds and began to slowly press down and before she could even react, a single red blade of pure energy came shooting out of the hilt with a hiss, the sound causing her to jump slightly. Once the initial surprise subsided, she came to the realization what Kylo handed her was a weapon almost exactly like his with the only differences she could notice being the different hilt, the lack of a crossguard and the blade looked far more stable than the sparking serrated appearance Ren's possessed. After a few more seconds of examining the red light, she slowly turned her attention towards Kylo who at that point seemed to be grabbing hold of his mask, the faceplate moving up with a low hiss before finally, the helmet came off, revealing not a monster, not a machine... but a man, a man with short black hair and an appearance that somewhat reminded her of Tatsumi. Before she could ask, Kylo immediately cut her off.

"I just felt it would be rude to not show you my true appearance before we started training together..." Hearing his voice without the synthesizer was surprising enough but even more so was what he just said.

"Training what do you me-"

"You're strong in the Dark Side and I just thought I would work to bring them out." With that said, he held out his hand.

"So what do you say my... apprentice?" The general was completely shocked, granted she was already skilled but if she had to be honest, this was an offer she simply couldn't refuse. Especially not after seeing what Kylo could do with his mastery of this power. With that in mind, Esdeath flicked off the saber and with a smile, she grabbed hold of her new master's hand, thus beginning what was surely about to become a long, powerful partnership.


	13. Chapter 13

( _Night Raid HQ_ )

It had been at the very least two or three days now since the initial reports of the First Order's appearance and much to the surprise of everyone, things had gone rather... quiet following said events. Every time the news came in, they were expecting it to be yet another story about how white-clad warriors burned down a village or how someone named Kylo Ren had stabbed some hapless sap to death with his "laser-sword" but all that ever came was the rather average news about both Danger Beasts attacking and how the Revolutionary Army was simply concerned about another attack. Overall, while it certainly wasn't a time to get comfortable nor was there ANY reason to soften up, at the very least it gave them a moment to breathe and smell the roses around them all, an opportunity that due to it being so rare, even some of the hardest of warriors had taken that up with of course a few exceptions.

One of them in particular being the guy you'd most expect to take part in the relaxation. In the eyes of Tatsumi, relaxation was unnecessary, hated by him even. Any day he wasn't training he found was a day that some trooper could just catch him off-guard and that would be the end of everything. For the boy, no longer was it about simply taking down the Empire and had quickly evolved into something FAR more personal and the reasoning for this change in attitude was very simple.

Not only had it been just a few days since his village was attacked and his friends were murdered, but it also had been the same amount of time since Tatsumi found himself completely humiliated by the likes of them with that one duel he fought against that one baton-wielding trooper. In hindsight, he knew he could've used Incursio and ended it all but with how he was, he wanted to try his hand at doing so without the help of any fancy armor and actually, he rather that the soldier saw the face of the boy he crossed... and that proved to be his greatest downfall, the scars and memories of which were constantly getting reopened to this very day. It all haunted him almost as though it was yesterday, the sight of the warrior standing over him, throwing out one jeer after another with every time he stood back up seeming to become shorter and shorter with every attempted engagement.

For a guy like him who at the very least had both seen his fair share of Imperials being cut down by the truckloads and has done so himself, he never had quite seen anything like that one trooper. When compared to the standard foot-soldier of the Empire, that single armored warrior seemed as though he was worth five of them, a thought that was almost immediately followed by the possibility that every soldier in the group was the same way and considering that every bit of material that has come out about them so far focused on how fast they completed their task and the "surprising tact" they showed in executing their plans, it all was sending quite the massive amount of shivers down his spine before being replaced by something far, FAR darker.

For like all thoughts and feelings since the day of his heartbreak, whatever worry or sorrow he may recall would immediately be tossed into the metaphorical trash bin and in its place was pure, unfiltered rage. Rage that was only matched by his desire for revenge all those days back on the ones who murdered Sheele but unlike that occasion, there was absolutely nothing that was keeping it at bay. A point that many members of the group took note of and at that very moment, it certainly had his sparring partner who was directly facing him with wooden staff in hand, extremely concerned for both his and her well-being.

Her grip tightly wound around her weapon, Akame was trying her absolute damnedest to perform two tasks. One was to ignore the freezing cold winds that were taking every possible opportunity to nip at her bare arms and legs and the other was the far more important task on trying to keep herself focused on the sparring session that was to take place at a moment's notice. Something that unfortunately enough, proved far more difficult than expected, especially when she looked into the boy's eyes.

Having trained with recruits of many different shapes, sizes, races and genders for more than a couple months now, the swordswoman found that after all that time, she saw the same eyes in many different warriors. Some were clearly looking towards the Revolutionary Army as a form of escape, others looked for revenge and for the most part, some clearly looked as though they wanted to just run as far as they could from the Empire and never turn back. In Tatsumi's, she found a rather consistent drive in him that represented the natural feelings of almost every human.

He didn't want absolute power, leadership or anything along those lines. Rather, he only wanted to survive long enough so that the new order could be set in place and so that not a single person would ever have to live in a world of tyranny, something that for one of his age, was extremely profound when compared to what she both pictured and saw what the majority said.

Not only that but she could also recall the promise he made to her the night after Sheele's death when she ended up breaking down in his arms about how he was going to keep on fighting until the bitter end and that he would never die, something that despite sounding completely unnecessary and ridiculous as it was a promise he had no way of keeping, the notion that he would actually bother to assure her in that way was something that even with her years of experience, had succeeded in touching her heart.

If only he possessed that same sort of care now. Finally after several minutes of no movement, Tatsumi at long last lunged forward, weapon drawn back for a brutal strike, the only sound he made being his almost guttural growl. Her instincts kicking into high gear, Akame did the same and before they knew it, the pair's wooden weapons collided with a loud "BANG!" with the force of which making them both surprised that it hadn't even cracked yet. A few seconds later, they would go onto clash again, and again... and again, entering their usual series of blocks and parries that were a staple of any confrontation between warriors as skilled as they were. Speaking of skilled, the swordswoman had to admit that in all her years of practice, there was never one quite like Tatsumi whose dedication had led to such a drastic improvement over the years.

Back when they first sparred, he wasn't able to land even a single hit on her with every time he tried seeming to do nothing but frustrate him as she just kept dodging and blocking with such grace and reaction times so quick that it forced one to question if she was even human. Towards the end, she could recall how when he asked why this was, she just gave it to him as bluntly as she could that he relied FAR too much on trying to overwhelm the opponent and that he had a narrow-minded approach to it all with his preference clearly being to just take one strategy that worked and run with it for the entire match regardless of how many times it failed. From that moment onward, the same mistake was made over and over again though at the very least, there was slight improvement every now and again with the addition of a counter, dodge or the occasional moment of subtlety.

In spite of all this, she was most certainly under the belief that Tatsumi was doomed to fail and that there was nothing more she could do to help him or at the very least, that was her thought until Bulat's death and fairly recently, his loss against the First Order. With his efforts now being entirely dedicated to improving his skills, she remembered how in the weeks following his comrade's demise, how his fighting style almost completely changed and for the better of it all. Gone was the gross overspecialization and in its place came more robust strategies, more complex fighting techniques and most importantly, his defenses while not perfect, were still extremely fit to the point where he was better than most new recruits and with every fight from that point on, he just kept getting better and better to the point where she and her teammates were discussing the possibility that he could wind up being better than Najenda, their leader.

Which is why it was thought that this fight could not have come at any worse time since now, that discussion has continued somewhat though instead of positivity, it was more concern being expressed by Leone and the others that Tatsumi was becoming far too volatile and aggressive with their commander and the occasional vocal supporter who went against him which couldn't have been anymore prominent than the meetings over the past few days where it seemed like either Najenda was gunning for Tatsumi or the other way around. Either way, it didn't matter since the focus was always centered on their arguments in general which ranged from minor disagreements to what they swore was going to break out into fisticuffs.

That last portion being what best described the most recent engagement which occurred just mere hours prior to their planned practice session, the details of which she had tried her hardest to forget about but no matter how hard she tried, it only took one look into the boy's eyes and it all came rushing back in droves and that was no more apparent than the lock-up they managed to get into.

Trying her hardest to push the boy back, all she had to look into was his face which was filled to the brim with a combination of fury, sorrow and anguish, all expressions that had become all too familiar to her during these most pressing times but unlike those times, there was something off about his face, something that seemed rather... predatory in nature, as if he had come across his family's killer... which wouldn't be too far off.

Prior to beginning these training sessions, Tatsumi hadn't exactly treated the idea as being extremely important or as something he should take seriously. In fact, he mostly preferred to see this as a small competition, like a friendly little game of Parcheesi or hide and go seek and often times, he never really showcased that much dedication to a battle unless it was someone who was particularly serious about it such as Akame. Following the deaths of both his comrades, it was clear that this wasn't going to fly and so Tatsumi decided to practice a new method of getting himself invested into the training.

He would often try to picture in his mind the very moments before those deaths or at the very least, that he was the lone survivor facing off against a horde of soldiers, a method that as he had learned, was utilized by several different recruits before him with the success rate being almost astronomical. But unlike the majority, the warrior was found to not possess the fatal shortcoming most of these aforementioned recruits had and actually WAS able to tell fact from fiction which meant that he never went as far as to try and seriously aim to maim his own teammates as in his mind, he could tell exactly who was Akame and who was just a regular soldier and certainly there would never be an issue with this right? Right?

Unfortunately, this session along with several prior engagements with Lubbock and others shot that small portion of wishful thinking down far faster than it took for the poison in Murasame to kill anyone. In his eyes, he didn't see good or evil, Empire or Night Raid, civilians or soldiers NOR did he feel any sort of sympathy. His desire was purely that of one simple re-no, a drive.

He was going to wipe out ALL who stood in his way, regardless of if they were friend or foe.

On the receiving end, the swordswoman was holding up very well though needless to say Tatsumi certainly was giving it his all with the amount of force he put in even causing her to be pushed back inch by inch with small bits of dust being kicked up into the air with each and every time. However what she didn't expect was what she assumed was either her mind playing tricks on her like it had been for the past few days or it was a sign by the universe of what was to come.

All around her, the scenery changed. Gone was the training field and in its place was a cliff-side with her body slowly nearing the edge. The skies and the world around her was unlike anything she had ever seen before with the color being a deep blood red and the location resembling a desert far more closely than it did a forest. Speaking of the sky, when she looked up, she could see neither a sun or moon gracing the skies and yet, it was all still fairly lit and the world was still operating as normal. What wasn't normal on the other hand was the screaming.

Filling her ears was not the sound of battle-cries, wood meeting wood or any natural wildlife. It was a grouping of primal, bloodcurdling screams that seemed to be SO loud that it was almost as though the source was right next to her. Quickly jerking her head to the side, she could feel her jaw drop and her eyes widening in shock the moment she laid eyes on the horrors that surrounded her.

One by one, she watched as several white-clad troopers, purged the area of bystanders, bystanders that just so happened to be her teammates. She watched with horror as Mine was brutally gunned down, as Lubbock in his desperate attempt to run was being strangled with his own weapon, the threads cutting into his throat like they were thin wire with Leone in her fight to rescue him only ending with her being stabbed straight through the chest by a red energy blade, the blade belonging to a masked man, the exact same masked man from her dreams.

Deep down, she knew it was a vision, she knew it was not at all real. Her body was practically begging for her to just shake herself or do something, anything to be free of this nightmare but it all was just too real to her. There wasn't anything hampering her vision, nothing that seemed like someone put a film over her eyes or anything along those lines, all that she was seeing was as crystal clear as daylight and that was all it took to get her heart racing, throbbing against her chest, to the point where it shook the very fabric of her battle outfit.

"Your fear..." Akame's eyes widened right as those two words hit her metaphorical airwaves. The voice sounded familiar though it seemed somewhat with the majority of it sounding like just a low growl that if it weren't for being so close, she wouldn't have been able to pick up on the tones of pleasure that it possessed. Slowly, the swordswoman moved her head back towards Tatsumi, with the hopes that his face would send her back into reality but as time went on, that outcome seemed less and less probable with how the sound of wood grinding against one another soon became that of a low sizzle, like that of a fresh barbecue. Once her head centered on her opponent, she gave a small hopeful smile, believing that it was all over... until the realization hit her once she saw both "Tatsumi" and what appeared to be a massive triangular ship flying overhead.

The male figure in front of her certainly resembled Tatsumi in build, height and even the small portions of facial features she could see which included his distinct young-looking face and the full head of brown hair... but everything else was as foreign to her as it could get but nevertheless, it was extremely terrifying. Gone was the usual vest and jacket he wore and in its place was a pitch black open robe with the only thing it covered being part of his upper body as the entirety of his arms were exposed as well as portions of his well-toned chest and abs. Flowing behind him was a long cape of matching colors which flowed ever so fluidly in the wind. Those were as far as the minor changes went as most of it was in the face... and what he wielded.

As mentioned earlier, only portions of his face could be made out as belonging to the boy. The rest of it was covered by a dark face-mask, looking slightly segmented and textured almost like that of a snake's skin. His eyes were not that of his natural emerald green with the color that replaced them being a piercing, unsettling yellow with a slight hint of red outlining it which perfectly matched up with the fierce-some laser-sword he held in place of the wooden staff which by that point, had completely burned through Akame's own, a feat that "Tatsumi" seemed to take great pleasure in with how he stared at her before leaning in and uttering a final two words.

"...it empowers me." Before she knew it, the warrior had raised the weapon up over his head with one hand and stared down at the warrior who could only stand back and wait for the inevitable. With a sick grin behind his mask, "Tatsumi" swung the sword downward and just like that she found herself... not in two pieces. Instead, the blade knocked her backward and as if it was reality's way of taking her back. Right as her body hit the dirt-covered ground, her vision was graced by far more relieving blue skies, forests and a concerned Tatsumi, looking just as he usually would, rushing to her aid.

"Akame, are you alright?!" The warrior shouted in a frantic manner, quickly jerking his hand out towards her. Shaking herself free from the fear, Akame looked towards the boy's hand with a look of confusion. As quickly as the vision came, everything went in a flash though it was clear that something had happened when she saw that her wooden staff was reduced to two thin broken stakes. Soon after, awkward silence came between the two along with a realization that, while it could be considered a result of her currently hyperactive imagination, it certainly was not to be trifled with.

Whatever path Tatsumi was on, it was NOT going to end well.

* * *

( _Imperial Capital - Jaeger HQ_ )

"MY SYURA!" A loud, slightly false agonizing cry sounded off right alongside a massive "THUD!", causing the Jaegers to all stop their practice and look towards the door to the prime minister's office with looks full of worry. The following few moments after they had finished scouting the village, two sounds had played off in the distance. One being that of an engine roaring with life and another being that of what seemed like a pile of dead flesh falling from the sky, crushing dried leaves and rocks upon impact. The investigation certainly didn't take long since after a few feet, the smell of ash was replaced by the FOULEST of stenches with the source it belonged to being almost as disturbing as it was disgusting.

Their assumptions about it being body was correct. Depending how you looked at it however, this was either unfortunate or fortunate as the bag of flesh, with its extremely dirtied lavender hair and lack of a face, was soon recognized as being the leftover remains of the psychotic leader of Wild Hunt himself though needless to say, it took a good couple of minutes before anyone could figure out it was him with both the extreme amount of discolored bruises which consisted mainly of a mixture between dark purples and reds, the bones that were poking from almost if not all parts of his body and of course, the dried red mess with a compressed shattered skull being what remained of his cranium. To add further insult to injury and a cherry on top of this disturbed parting gift, draped over the warrior was that of a familiar tan coat, skirt and hat, all things that belonged to General Esdeath.

After getting over the initial shock and with the assistance of Bols, Budo lifted the still decomposing remains up off the ground and almost immediately, what remained of his head came tearing from the neck with ease, dropping neatly into Wave's hands, causing him to immediately lose all control which led to a rather putrid green mush splattering onto the ground. Through a long, tiresome journey home, the general ordered the group to stay in a room while he went and dealt with the situation, presumably in case that Honest decided he wasn't feeling particularly generous or caring that day and sure enough, his emotions were definitely going wild with many of the members who could hear the muffled cries mentally expressing their sympathies.

All except for the general who was standing at the foot of the prime minister's desk, the psycho's remains laid out rather neatly on its surface with the tearful fat man sobbing presumably about how his son went without as much as a goodbye. A fact that Budo knew was entirely false.

In all the years that he had worked with this man, this... horrific sack of flesh which had been the long-standing cause of all the corruption and infighting in the Empire, not once had he ever seen him express genuine sadness for a soldier's passing. When Ogre died, he shrugged it off. When Stylish met his demise, he simply said "Oh well." and moved on. With the hundreds that died every day, trying their damnedest to bring honor to their nation and provide for their families, he for the most part remained silent, his sadistic grin being static and unnerving, as though it was nothing to him.

After all that, the general wouldn't have even doubted it that his son was considered just another casualty of war.

"MY POOR BABY!" He moaned, hands roughly gripping his head. "MY OWN FLESH AND BLOOD! GONE FORE-"

"Please excuse the interruption but don't you think we should get on with the chat?" Budo suggested with crossed arms, his expression about as stern and emotionless as his tone which certainly caused quite the stir among the Jaegers.

"The man just lost his son, how can he be so heartless?!" Wave thought to himself, shocked and disgusted by the general's actions. While Esdeath certainly wasn't the most "warm and fuzzy" of commanders, if there was one thing that they commended her for it was that she understood the pain of loss as showcased when she took the time to wrap her arms around Seryu, who was quite distraught over the loss of Stylish, and let her cry for as long as she desired something which until that point, was very unexpected as initial impressions hinted more towards the general not having a single speck of care for their lives and only determined their worth based on the work they did. While that was still certainly the case even after all that, the fact that she even bothered to provide comfort for one of her teammates was still surprising to say the least.

That was however until the sound of Honest's voice came echoing out from behind the door, the tone having absolutely no hint of sorrow, anger or anything along those lines except for his usual brand of sadism.

"My apologies for boring you general, let's move on." The seaman at that very moment had to use all of his strength to keep both his jaw from dropping and from breaking down the door and grabbing Honest by the collar of his shirt.

Overall, Wave was finding that as he continued to spend more and more time with the Empire, this puzzle of depravity and corruption was filling itself in more and more, painting a horrific picture that regardless of how hard he tried, his brain outright refused to shake it from its memory like a stubborn child who refused to go to bed after sundown. He joined the group purely to earn money and to find solace in making sure that dangerous criminals were all put down for good and instead of that, he had to bear witness to innocent people being tortured, soldiers who were judged more by their dedication and loyalty instead of their humanity and horrific acts all being committed in the name of "justice". As the veils were pulled back, the Empire was looking less and less like a group for order and more like one for tyranny and chaos and as time went on, he was starting to wonder how he was even able to get by this madness.

The answer to that came with a simple warmth pushing down on his back, causing him to turn to the side and see the concerned face of a swordswoman who was quite possibly the only person he could trust and feel for.

"Are you alright?" Kurome questioned, head cocked to the side, something that she never would've done back in her early days and yet somehow, whether it was by circumstance or her opinion on him had changed, she was definitely way more focused on his well-being and behavior. With this in mind, Wave let out a sigh.

"Can I even hide it anymore?" The swordswoman's brow cocked slightly.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean I could say that I'm doing fine and just try to pretend everything is going alright... but that would just mean I'm living in a fantasy land, a fantasy land that I find is not even worth a damn." The rest of the group turned towards him, showcasing the room's rare problem of being both far too small and far too expansive.

"Wave, everything is going fine." Seryu began. "Justice is being served, peace will soon be in our grasp." The swordsman's head cocked to the side, the orange-haired warrior just barely being able to fill his peripheral vision though from what Kurome could tell, his gaze had not a single shred of positivity.

"Justice?" His fists immediately started to tighten as his body turned to face her. "You call this justice?" The warrior nodded.

"I do, is there something wrong with that?" Wave gave her possibly the darkest glare he had ever given anyone in his entire life.

"You consider killing innocent people as serving justice?" Taking notice of the slightly raised tone, Kurome began to slide her hand up the man's arm in an attempt to relax him when he simply pushed it off, all the while his attention remained solely focused on Seryu.

"They're not innocents." The warrior said darkly, signaling to Koro to start giving off a low warning growl. "They're enemies of the Empire, enemies that we were formed specifically to bring down."

"And by bring down you mean going to great lengths to torture them is that it?!" Silence filled the room, the looks Wave received being mainly that of shock though with some such as Run, it was almost as though realization came crashing into their skulls.

"Sometimes being a hero isn't pret-"

"What happened to Syura was NOT heroic!" Wave snapped. "That is a complete lie and you know it!" The warrior's eyes immediately flared up with anger along with Koro though the small dog was immediately pushed back by their master's foot.

"What do you expect us to do, sympathize with the criminals?!" The girl began to take a few steps toward Wave. "Do you want us to bring harm to the capital?!"

"Don't you think they at least deserve a free trial? A chance to ACTUALLY obtain their freed-"

"Animals like them don't deserve freedom!" Seryu interjected right as she pushed Wave against the wall. "If they're kept alive, they're just going to multiply and eventually overwhelm us all!"

"Those 'animals' had families! We usually don't even know WHY they do the things they do anyways and so is it REALLY that fair to pair them up with the murderers and the rapi-"

"IT'S THE FAMILY'S FAULT FOR TAINTING THEM!" His veins bulging from his neck, the swordsman immediately grabbed hold of the warrior's shoulders.

"WRONG! IT'S OUR GODDAMN FAULT FOR JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS!" Wave roared. "WHAT WE'RE DOING IS NOT JUSTICE! WE'RE JUST AS BAD IF NOT WORSE THAN THE SUPPOSED MURDERERS WE'RE KILLING!" Seryu's grip around his shoulders began to tighten, the added support of her metal arms causing him to wince ever so slightly.

"Justice isn't always going to be pretty!"

"I KNOW THAT! But I sure as hell know it's not THAT ugly either!"

"Through our actions, the Empire is a better place! You of all people should know this!"

"And for what reason?! So I can be a brainless puppet like you?!"

"Don't you WANT to be a hero?!"

"If it means killing innocent people then no! No I don't and I don't care what kind of bullshit your superiors have been feeding you, I DON'T believe in this!" Seryu froze up, her hands twitching in rage upon realizing who he was referring to. Before she could speak however, the man just for lack of a better word, let her have it. "Tell me, have our actions ACTUALLY done a damn thing?! Through our constant bouts of mutilation, have we FIXED a single problem in the Empire?! Has the corruption miraculously disappeared?! Are we truthfully heroes to this nation?! NO! ALL WE'VE DONE IS SHOWN OURSELVES AS COLDBLOODED KILLERS AND LAPDOGS! We're not SAVING anything! There's no HEROICS! There is NOTHING! And yet you continue to shut it all down all because you REFUSE to listen to your common sense and instead let their BULLSHIT fill your mind!" Seeing that Seryu was ready to slaughter the man, Bols immediately stepped in, his voice far lower and softer than the girl's, sounding very similar to what he may use with his daughter.

"Bear in mind Wave that you took up an oath, an oath that you swore you would follow to the bitter end. It was a pro-"

"It was a promise that I NEVER would've made if THIS was what it led to! I signed up because I thought I could actually make a difference, that I could actually help the world at large and make it a safe place for the next generation and what did I get? Psychopaths who believed experimenting on HUMAN beings was perfectly fine! Blind followers with a SICK version of what justice actually is and a sadist who has now abandoned us! That's not to mention the First Order who do ALL that and far more and overall Bols, it's driving me completely MAD!" Once again, felt her usual shiver at the mention of the group name but in this case, it didn't actually shake her one bit and instead, her focus was centered entirely on the overwhelming passion Wave was showing.

When he first started blabbering about this, she was certainly ready to jump in. After all, it was through the Empire that she obtained her enhancements which made her into what is quite possibly one of the most deadly assassins to ever exist and with the chance it provided to settle the score with her big sister, that alone was enough to make her proud to be a part of it all.

But then she decided to stop, take a moment and listen to all of what he had to say and much to her possible frustration, all that he was saying was actually making a bit of sense.

At what point was letting groups like Wild Hunt whose infamous reputation for the rape and torture of anyone in sight regardless of affiliation heroic? How was trying to join up with an organization they had no clue about and has proved themselves to already be quite the violent bunch to anyone who came near logical? How in the name of the gods above were the corruption and infighting such non-issues?! While she certainly had no qualms with both Seryu and the Empire, she had to admit that the issues her comrade was bringing up were actually very legitimate problems that they either received no answer to or they were just hand-waved off like they were just a minor inconvenience IF they were even considered that.

"What am I saying?" She thought, realizing the oddity of her agreeing with the swordsman, the same swordsman who she had no high opinion of beforehand which led to her thinking back to all her previous experiences.

In spite of all the crap she put him through, in spite of how she treated him like complete dirt, Wave was by far the only member who openly agreed with her about the First Order and the only one who tried his hardest at comforting her about the whole thing, the only other person who even came close to being this caring being that of her sister back in the day.

Well to be fair Bols and Run also seemed to showcase similar concerns about it all but as far as openly expressing it, they never quite reached the levels of what the swordsman accomplished. To him, it was not at all about the positives of it all nor was it about how they could use the extra help. With what little they knew, Wave was the first to speak out on her behalf on how this was all one massive, idiotic idea that if accepted could lead to the end of both the Empire AND Revolutionary Armies and there would be nothing they could do to stop it and at long last, he was letting those feelings be known and was NOT holding back in the slightest and as far as she could tell, it most certainly struck a nerve with Seryu.

She already knew that the topic of justice and loyalty was a sensitive topic for her but to see just how angry, how infuriated she was with her scrunched brow, grit teeth and piercing glare showing that of pure, unhinged malice and that if Wave didn't shut up anytime soon, she certainly was going to "make" him if he wasn't careful and sure enough, that was exactly what was going to happen since a few seconds later, a loud "CRACK!" was heard and before she knew it, Wave was flat on his back as the woman started to swing with Bols and Run immediately rushing to his aid, trying their hardest to pull her off. Before her brain could even process it completely, something inside the warrior's head went off and almost immediately, she stood up and was just about to rush over to Wave's aid when she felt another presence, one that seemed unrecognizable but frighteningly familiar.

"Did I come in at a bad time?" Everything in the room went silent, the group's heads snapping towards the source of the voice. Standing in the open doorway, dressed in an outfit that was all black with what looked to be a military cap on his head was a young man, looking at the very least like he was in his 20s or 30s. He stood up with what some called either a pompous or formal posture depending on the person with his hands set behind his back, showcasing quite proudly the small white symbol present on the front of aforementioned cap as well as patches that showcased the exact same logo which looked, at least to them, almost like a sketch of how some people viewed the sun. His tone was quite polite, almost startlingly so and yet in spite of that, there was a rather obvious air of unease, especially when his gaze set on Kurome which caused a huge lump to appear in her throat.

Carefully, the man darted his eyes up and down her body, almost as though she looked like someone he knew from his past and that he was just making sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him before he started making assumptions. Wiping the blood from his face, Wave was feeling almost the exact same way as Kurome was and like her, he wasn't sure why though it certainly was enough to convince him to rush to her side. A few seconds later after what felt like an eternity of stares, the man began to move up, his hands still behind his back, clearing just enough room for two figures.

Two figures who revealed themselves and their allegiance purely by their armor, the exact same armor that Wave saw back during what was sure to become a permanent fixture in their memory and the fact that both had orange shoulder pauldrons only made things SO much worse as shown with how the swordswoman immediately tightened her grip around him. Before anyone could open their mouth the slightest of inches, the conversation between Budo and Honest suddenly halted and a few seconds later, they moved to open the door, the man seeming to try their hardest to hide their disgust once the fat man stepped out.

"Prime Minister Honest, what an honor to be graced by your presence." The man said with a clear degree of falseness as he took a bow, the prime minister seeming completely oblivious to it.

"I don't believe we've ever met before." Honest began with one finger scratching at his chin. "What's your business stranger?" Giving the best fake smile he could, the man raised his hand to remove his hat, showcasing his full head of red hair.

"Just a simple chat." Taking notice of the two soldiers that were standing by his side, Honest's expression changed from obliviousness to that of a smile.

"So I see, my mistake." He said with a laugh. "But still, what brings you fine gentlemen to my humble abode?"

"You'll learn soon enough but first, I'm guessing some formalities are in order yes?" Honest nodded.

"Yes indeed, though I guess there's no point in telling you my name since you already know it so why don't we move on with yours." Seeing no problem with it, the man immediately put his cap back on and turned to his troopers, giving them small hand-gestures and a few seconds later with a nod, the two straightened up and gave a salute right as the man let his hands go back into their usual position behind his back.

"I am General Hux and I would like to negotiate a possible alliance between the Empire..." Stopping for a moment, his gaze centered on Wave who was looking more than a little frightened. On his end, despite the stare being polite, just from the smirk he gave off and the presence he had, he couldn't help but feel trapped. With one wrong move or word, he was surely done for. Finally after a few more minutes, Hux turned his attention back towards Honest.

"and the First Order." And just like that, in a manner that was almost as though their presence alone struck fear into the universe itself or the Force was at work, the doors slammed shut, closing everyone in for what was surely to become one tense meeting.

* * *

 _Author's Addendum:_

 **I don't usually do this but I just thought I would point out, the reason Hux didn't go out in an instant was because he felt he needed just a bit more protection and he wanted to make sure that the tests for various tools were going smoothly.**

 **That and if you want to know why Akame saw a figure with a face-mask, I think those who know their Dark Horse comic books and Star Wars knowledge should know who exactly that was referencing.**

 **With that said, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and that you'll post your thoughts below.**


	14. Chapter 14

( _Jaeger HQ_ )

There was a stench most foul in the air the moment the doors shut and it hit Hux and his troopers hard in the sinuses, the potency being so vibrant that he was shocked that he didn't exactly vomit right then and there, especially when considering the pathetic nature of the prime minister who if he had to be quite frank, he was mostly expecting to be more strategically inept as Esdeath's description suggested. In fact, he mostly pictured Honest to be more of an average build with maybe a few scars here and there to give him an idea as to what the exact reason was for the position and initially, he actually thought the one standing next the fat man was the prime minister or at least the emperor which would've made a lot more sense as far as he was concerned.

But as his luck would have it, possibly from his time with who he considered the biggest disappointment of all time Kylo Ren, the fat one was, in fact, the real Prime Minister Honest... and he just couldn't wrap his head around it. The prime minister, one of the main leaders of this empire, the one who according to the general was the one who put everything into motion and the one who actually brought the organization into the position of power that it had was an overweight, disgusting, frail old slob who if he had to be honest, looked like how an artist's depiction of the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi would look if that artist was both a supporter of Palpatine and had just a massive hatred for the Jedi in general.

To make matters worse, the stench was all emanating from him, the odor being a strong combination of food, body odor and overall, it was a massive shock that it wasn't making him queasy at that very moment though certainly, just the sight of the man alone was enough to overwrite that.

Recalling various descriptions of Emperor Palpatine, his disciple Darth Vader and the various archival recordings they found showing them in action, those two were definitely who he would describe as being leader material. While the two of them certainly had their shortcomings in their occasional bouts of cockiness and what he considered to be an over-reliance on the Force, if there was one thing that he would honestly commend them for if they were still alive to that day, it would be the massive impression they left with how simple their appearances were. Even Palpatine who looked like a frail old man would be someone he'd compliment as in spite of his looks, he had heard various stories on how he was an excellent practitioner of the Dark Side with many of the old commanders who met him explaining how when they first walked into the room, their body temperatures dropped immensely though Palpatine remained perfectly fine, almost as though his very presence was enough to bring their primal fear to the surface.

Oh how he'd longed for the days of old to return if it meant he didn't have to look at Honest's face anymore. In fact, had he known that the prime minister looked and smelled like this, he possibly would've just said to hell with it all and blow everything to bits as he saw no worth in dealing with a man who smelled like that of a Hutt more than he did an expert military commander in spite of the few positives he possessed which even surprised Hux himself.

If there was one thing that he deserved credit for, it was definitely his ability to bring several capable soldiers together who either had a common goal or were complete strangers in order to fight for one group, something that so far hasn't necessarily been accomplished by the First Order which was still mostly dominated by humans with the occasional exception such as that one Chiss grand admiral, named Mitth'raw'nuruodo, (which he didn't even dare to try and pronounce.) that had been put in charge of the attacks on the Resistance back home. That and the one detail that he admit did strike him (or at least, his two troopers.) with a slight bit of unease was that grin.

Tat creepy, wide grin that brought back memories of several events that he rather would not go into with one of them in particular involving descriptions of an outbreak on the planet of Odacer-Faustin that sounded like it was ripped straight from a horror production though what made it especially notable was how it was still present on his face in spite of the blasters and armor his troopers carried and he was certain that he even would've had it if his pistol had been drawn from its nice snug holster on his boot. Overall, the man seemed to possess absolutely NO fear whatsoever which was extremely off-putting given how apparently, their exploits have been very well reported on in their form of media and he had to admit, it actually was somewhat of a nice change to have someone who wasn't always darting between you and your weapon, clearly concerned for when you were exactly going to cut loose and shoot them.

"I just hope Ren has the right idea about this." Hux thought to himself before proceeding to open his mouth, ready to get started. As all this was going on, Wave couldn't help but stare on with a mixture of awe and fright, ignoring the harsh glare he received from Seryu and the stinging pain in his lower lip from where her metal hand possibly cracked his jaw though he was unsure. When he first encountered the Stormtroopers, he had the impression that the commander of this group would actually be far more comparable to Seryu, being a far older man who would be ruthless, calculating and most of all, his voice would come out in loud roars.

What he got however was a young, polite man that looked to be in his 20s or 30s and certainly was at least comparable to Seryu for one superficial reason in that their hair shared similar colors. However, upon further inspection, he found that was actually far WORSE than what he had pictured since his imagination soon started going wild about the exact amount of people he must've killed, maimed and/or tortured over the years with this same calm and collected attitude.

He could see it now, an innocent man with a wife and child, screaming and sobbing as Stormtroopers continuously beat him with Hux's reactions being a simple "Now are you going to talk?" as if he was completely unaware or numb to the whole situation. The First Order certainly was more of an enigma than what he had pictured and from what he could tell from Kurome and the concerned glance she made to him, she certainly shared the same views as well and just like him, he had to share that fear of being in the presence of someone they were completely, utterly terrified by and much to his surprise, that feeling was indeed shared by his peers all with the exception of Bols whose body language said it more than anything and Seryu though what was more surprising was how Budo had a similar expression.

Granted, it showed no fear nor did it showcase him as being angry with the possible alliance since from what he could tell, the general was more the type of person who despite his dislike for Honest, he would support decisions like this if it meant there was the possibility that this godforsaken war can finally end. But what it did show was that he certainly wasn't exactly the most comfortable with either the sudden appearance, the armed troopers or all of the above. Either way, he could tell that he knew this First Order was bad news all up to now when Honest stopped the general just as he was about to speak.

"Now hold on there," He said with hand raised high up. "don't you think you'd rather see our emperor first?" The general raised an eyebrow.

"Emperor? I thought you ran everything around here?" Immediately, the old man let out a light chuckle.

"I run everything yes, that I'm not denying. But it is still from the shadows after all, I have a pupil mainly for the rest."

"A... pupil?" The prime minister nodded.

"And I don't know about you but I don't think he would find it very polite that we're discussing something as major as an alliance without his conse-" Suddenly, a loud creak sounded off from behind the two troopers who instinctively made a full 360 turn until their blasters were aiming at a young boy with green hair and clothes that definitely looked like that of royalty.

"What's going on?" He questioned, tone slightly raised with a mixture of both fright and sternness. Seeing Honest's grin go wider, Hux didn't quite get what it was... until he just said it outright.

"Your highness, such amazing timing!" Upon signaling for the troopers to lower their weapons, the general immediately began to rapidly shift his gaze between the two figures out of pure disbelief. Throughout all his years of service to the First Order, he certainly had seen his fair share of oddities and was no stranger to young ones possessing abnormally high positions of power such as Lieutenant Mitaka who had proved himself to be quite the tough one after surviving one of Kylo's infamous temper-tantrums and it was thanks to this that he moved up to the rank of general where he would serve alongside the aforementioned Chiss male. Not only that but since the First Order's main style of recruitment was to train children from birth who they obtained either through kidnapping such as with FN-2187 or willing cooperation as with FN-2199, his few visits to these training stations has granted him more than a few glimpses of kids ranging from teens to younglings.

However, it was always a rule for them that they would ONLY be put into active service if they were at least at the age of 17 or 18 which made the inclusion of those who were still fairly young such as Mitaka make far more sense since they were fully grown adults who already had the values of the group beaten into their skulls. It was something they knew as well as even the Jedi and Sith, a child no matter how promising they were, just did not possess the mental and/or physical fortitude required to be thrust into active duty at such young ages.

Apparently, the Empire never got that memo.

Whereas their group was led by a man shrouded in mystery and knowledgeable about almost everything relating to both Galactic Empire and Sith history, the Empire of Earth was led by who Hux considered a small pampered brat who upon closer inspection of his outfit and age, looked as though he was dressing up for a play more than he actually looked like royalty.

Or in other words, if he didn't get why Esdeath held such a low opinion of the Empire back then, he certainly could understand now as not even Kylo Ren bothered to inform him of this little detail which meant one of two things. Either he never knew himself or he wanted to have a small laugh at his reaction and he certainly hoped he ate it all up because once everything was all over with, he was going to be the one to go down next time and not him.

Despite this internal feeling, the general with as pleasant of an attitude he could, gave the young one a smile.

"My apologies, the world I come from isn't exactly the most peaceful so my men tend to be as alert as possible your... highness." Swallowing down his pride, the general held his hand out towards the emperor, all the while Honest was busy grabbing chairs. Hesitant, the young one just stared up at Hux until eventually, a single look from his prime minister was all that it took for him to soften up and give into the shake.

"I'm General Hux of the First Order and it's an honor to meet you." His young age and inexperience clearly showcasing in how the false pleasantries went completely over his head, the emperor simply gave him a wide-eyed glance.

"The First Order? You don't mean..."

"Yes, I know, we are the same group who have been attacking villages all across the area." Hux interjected, drawing his hand away and back to its previous position. "And I must say, we're very sorry for the trouble we've caused you and we only are doing this because..." The general shot Kurome another glance, her body backing up ever so slightly just seconds later. While he certainly had his hunch, he knew that simply acting upon it now without considering how it could go wrong in so many ways would be catastrophic and it had the potential of ruining all of what Ren might have planned and with that in mind, he used quick wit to give out a different answer but with similar meaning. "well... we're simply looking for someone, someone who Ren believes may help us win a war back in our world."

"Your world?" Hux nodded towards Honest who was sitting rather comfortably in the lovely looking red chair.

"We're not from this one to be exact." Feeling there was no need to be so tense, Hux took a moment to lower himself down into the seat next to Honest, the material rather comfortably caressing his spine and legs as he leaned back. "In fact, we've only just recently discovered it when we came out of hyperspace into your galaxy."

"You don't say?" Honest replied, clearing disbelieving of the whole thing as expected though the emperor with his face of wonder, clearly was more intrigued.

"How far is your world from ours?" The general lightly grasped his chin but not before signaling to his troopers to stand by the Jaegers which made the girl feel even more uncomfortable.

"Hmm... I can't say for certain." He began. "All I really know is that it has been around for a long time, possibly to the point of being older than yours and is extremely far from here."

"With all due respect general, I don't think the Empire has any use for... fairy tales." Despite the extreme amount of disrespect shown with that comment, Hux was thankfully saved by the emperor.

"True, but don't we live in a world where creatures such as Danger Beasts and Imperial Arms exist?" The realization hitting him, the fat man let out a nice hearty chuckle.

"Oh yeah, I've completely forgotten about that! Very well then, proceed general, tell us where you've come from."

"Gladly," Hux said with a false smile. "you see, we initially started life as the Galactic Republic before later being converted into the Empire, a regime that through our might and near endless reach thanks to a man named Palpatine and his position as supreme chancellor, we were able to maintain balance in the galaxy with most of that help able to be attributed to our cunning and the towering presence of a man named Darth Vader." Right then and there, the emperor called it.

"No offense mister but that kind of sounds similar to the history of THIS Empire as well." Hux cocked an eyebrow.

"In what way exactly?"

"Simple, it was thanks to the assistance of Prime Minister Honest and his position of power that the Empire evolved from its initial weak leadership and eventually prospered with my assistance and the work of people such as Esdeath and Budo."

"You are too gracious your lordship, I'm honored you think this highly of me." Seeing his chance, Budo couldn't help but roll his eyes at the fat one's showcase of ego though the general took the moment of silence that followed as a chance to move on.

"I'm sure the parallels are purely coincidental." Hux explained though he knew in his heart that somehow that wasn't true. "Anyways, it was all going smoothly until something occurred. Something that from what I've heard from nearby civilians, you're certainly having trouble with it."

"You're talking about rebellion aren't you?" Hux nodded towards Honest.

"Despite the period of prosperity that Palpatine reeled in, the foolish senator Bail Organa of the house of Alderaan decided that our rule was apparently far too... oppressive for his taste and thus with his daughter at the helm, he managed to thrust our world into war, ending a time of peace that could've easily been kept had he not been so foolish. Fortunately, these rebels were pitiful, frail, they were nothing compared to the funds and size of our proud empire and while they did in succeed in small victories against us, they were merely nips of a frustrated Kowakian monkey-lizard in comparison to our forces which had the strength and fortitude of a Wampa." With the casual mention of creatures that were never seen or heard in his life, Honest found himself becoming far more invested in the general's little tale. Sure it certainly was out there but it showed that either he was the greatest writer there was or that what he was saying was true and if he had to guess judging by how casually he did so, it was definitely leaning towards the latter especially when his tone slowly started to shift and as his fist began to twitch.

"However, that all changed one faithful day when those wretched rebels managed to steal the plans to one of our crowning achievements..."

"Which was?" Hesitant, the general gave him a look.

"That is unimportant but trust me when I say that if I told you, you certainly wouldn't believe it but what I can say is that it was one marvelous piece of equipment." His imagination racing, that was all the satisfaction the prime minister needed before he gave the okay for Hux to continue on which he did so without any quarrel.

"And just like that, a chain reaction occurred, a reaction that led to us LOSING this piece of equipment, the deaths of both Vader and Palpatine, a massive uprising and all this culminated in the eventual fall of the Empire and the revival of our worst enemies, the Jedi, the supposed guardians of peace and tranquility when really, they were nothing but a lousy bunch of hypocrites who were too afraid to explore all manners of the Force."

"The Force? What is that?" The emperor asked with eyes wide open, full of curiosity with Kurome in the distance feeling almost as though the phrase was familiar to her, like it had been brought up to her in some capacity beforehand. Clasping his hands together, Hux continued onward.

"Well your highness, I can't exactly explain everything but all I can tell you is that the Force is something truthfully spectacular and it's something you may find is more prominent than you think." Seeing his eyes once again light up with wonder, the general couldn't help but smirk. While the idea of a child being an emperor certainly was still an awful one to him, it at the very least gave him the advantage since if Honest and his actions were of any indication, it was far easier to pull their strings to the position they needed to be. With this out of the way and Honest completely satisfied, Hux moved on.

"Now this is where everything gets complex so I'll just go over the basics. After one horrific accident that left our military crippled, we took what little there was and retreated back into the unknown regions of the galaxy and from there, we simply..." The general took the moment to smirk. "got better."

"What do you mean by that exactly?" Honest asked curiously.

"I mean while their precious New Republic spent their time throwing out most of their fleet and weapons, we were all prepared for a counter-attack. Under new leadership which included myself, Kylo Ren and the daring Captain Phasma, we worked towards ironing out all the flaws of the Empire. Our training? Focused far more on adaptation to the environment and a bit of teamwork. Our ships? Outfitted with several more pieces of armor that allowed them to withstand quite the brutal amount of punishment. Our knowledge of the Force? Greatly improved, while some of us still don't exactly agree with the idea of something like this existing, those numbers are too few and far between nowadays for us to care due to the impending revival of the Jedi. Through all this and more, the pathetic, dirty rags of the Empire shed off of our bodies and with that came the spreading of our wings as the First Order and with that came the return that reminded everyone about who the TRUE rulers of the galaxy were."

"How glorious!" Honest exclaimed. "Just as your empire was at the brink of failure, right as it was about to crack, you rose up like Apollo and drove that chariot back into the sky! That's just so fascinating!"

"I'm glad you think so." Hux said with a false smile. Soon after, Honest lightly grasped his chin.

"But what would bring you here then? Surely with all that you've told me, the New Republic should be in complete and total shambles, there should be no need to find someone else." If there was one thing the general hated more than disgusting men such as Honest, it was definitely when they were able to understand him better than his own allies.

"Well you see, as is with history... it's about to repeat itself. Now to be fair, it certainly is nowhere near as bad as it was back in the days of the Galactic Empire but certainly it has been getting worse. Ever since one of our actions which left the New Republic's leadership completely decimated, the group finally decided to give one of the guerrilla fighting forces, that being the Resistance, all the funds they needed in order to build up a fleet and while it certainly is nowhere near as powerful as it used to be, they have been proving to be quite the nuisance. With this in mind, Ren decided that the focus should be less centered on the Resistance and instead should be centered around taking out the last surviving Jedi when Ren came to the conclusion that there could possibly be a Star Map around that could trigger the Force within him which would point us towards the right direction."

"Did you listen to him?" Hux nodded.

"It was a VERY tough call to make but we did and when we struck those Resistance cruisers, we certainly did so without any semblance of mercy as we wanted them to feel the exact amount of pain they inflicted on us. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, we came across one map that led to..."

"Here? That's impossible!" The emperor called out, stopping when Hux's gaze rested on him. "With all due respect, there has been zero evidence to hint towards any involvement between this planet and a far away galaxy." Noting that this was almost exactly what Esdeath said to him regarding Imperial Arms, the general couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

"I think you may find our histories are more intertwined than you realize." Hux leaned back into his seat seconds later, feeling satisfied once he saw that the boy shut himself up before turning his attention to the prime minister. "Now then, what do you think?"

In all his times in chatting with new recruits, he could've sworn that he heard just about every ridiculous tale there was to hear whether it be master swordsmen believing themselves to be the greatest because they mention how they took on a whole pack of Danger Beasts to young ones who mentioned that they were able to steal gold from the rich with ease... which promptly earned them an execution. Overall, he felt that like all things in life, there simply was just no new story to tell but just like that, the universe managed to find a way to make his jaw metaphorically drop with the general's crazy story and from what he could tell, his thoughts were certainly shared by everyone else in the room with obvious exceptions.

Even with all the crazy news that came out about screeching demons and armored soldiers from hell, Honest had a strict, long-standing belief that the First Order were quite possibly just a bunch of spiritual nutcases from far off in the land who somehow managed to control Danger Beasts hence why everyone kept referring to demons as being their main weapon of choice. Hell, this was even in spite of all the descriptions of how these so-called "demons" looked as though they were mechanical since, as he knew from experience, the media would stretch any detail they could if it meant gaining the big bucks which even extended out as far as some TRAGEDIES which made his thoughts about the First Order in turn look far less unfounded than they actually were.

However, with just how clearly he explained it, how natural the emotion that flowed from his tone and body language and finally, just how he clearly had not a single shred of disbelief or falseness about it all, it at long last came crashing down on top of Honest like a ton of bricks as evidenced by his voice following it all and even then, he took that moment to take in a long, careful breath, as if what he was about to say could be his last words.

"Well, it sounds as though you've had quite the life." His false smile present once more, Hux gave him a nod.

"Indeed I have." Of course, in spite of all this, there was still one question everyone shared and one that surprisingly enough, was first expressed not by Honest, not by the emperor but actually the swordsman in the back who had Kurome still tightly wrapped in his grasp.

"But why bother coming here?" Hux's gaze snapped towards him.

"I beg your pardon?" Hearing their commander's tone, the two troopers believed the boy was bothering him and were just about to make their move when a simple hand-gesture froze them in place.

"Sure the Resistance sounds like they certainly are becoming a nuisance but wouldn't it be wiser for you to stay in your own galaxy and wipe out your enemies there instead of traveling to a completely unrelated system that has zero affiliation with either si-"

"If I had full control of the First Order then yes of course that would be my plan." Hux interjected, his tone stern but with an extra layer of vitriol. "But as I explained, I clearly don't rule over everything now do I?" Despite it being so light, Wave could already tell from the sound of the general's voice, the way he leaned in close and just his motions that if he continued on, he better be prepared to leave in a body-bag. With a face full of reluctant defeat that was only encouraged by the dark glare of Seryu that followed him the whole way through, the swordsman lowered his head, the sight of which signaled for the man to continue onward, his attention shifting back towards Honest's gaze.

"So you see prime minister, the reason we sought out an alliance with you and the Empire isn't necessarily because we can't handle this on our own but rather, because we feel that with us being strangers to this planet combined with the similar issues we both have gone through, the whole idea of ignoring an opportunity as astronomically profitable such as this would just showcase ignorance and arrogance of the highest caliber." Now there was the usual meeting jargon, something that Honest had heard to death from several different groups who wanted to do business with the Empire and it almost always ended in him turning it down mostly due to the pure idiocy that these visitors possessed in that they almost never focused on what benefits there were and only focused on just how THEY would profit from it all. Certainly the fat man was impressed, but he sure as hell wasn't stupid like Hux seemed to believe.

"I get what you're saying and I must admit, it does sound impressive." Honest began, his voice full of skepticism. "But there just doesn't seem to be enough to convince us in the investment, nor does there seem to be any real ben-"

"Typical of leaders with high positions," Hux interjected. "they always want to have the deal sweetened for them."

"Well wouldn't you prefer that over being lied to?" Hux looked him dead in the eyes.

"Prime Minister Honest, if I knew someone was lying to me..." He looked towards the two troopers who right then and there, flicked the safety off their blasters, the weapons giving off a low hum as they sprang to life. "well, you can probably put the pieces together." In that small moment, Honest was impressed, so much so that he couldn't help but grin. After all, it wasn't often that someone who tried to strike a deal with you actually had the experience and the brains to know exactly what made him skeptic.

"You have an interesting business practice general." A few seconds later, everyone watched as Honest's grin became even wider. "A practice that I love."

"I can certainly tell." Hux said with a chuckle. "But that's just how I deal with things and it's only fair that I explain to you exactly how I want this alliance to go." Nodding, the prime minister watched as the general stood up from his seat, using a small hand gesture for him to do the same which he did so with ease as well as the emperor even though it was clear that he already was going to go along with this.

"To put it rather simply, through this alliance, we will easily be able to track down who we're looking for without hassle since your people would provide us with first-hand experience that will work FAR more wonders than what the scans could."

"Alright then, but what's in it for us?" Knowing the man was a clear, bona fide psycho, the general knew exactly what strings to pull as evidenced by his smile.

"Simple, through our assistance, whatever rebellion you may be dealing with will be swiftly crushed by our superior weapons which you will receive full access to. That is of course, as long as you can prove to us that you're worthy of it all." Against the wishes of people such as Kurome, Honest simply kept his grin, bringing them ever closer to the dreaded outcome.

"And we have just the way to prove ourselves. You see, in just one or two days from now, we'll be engaging in a battle with this rebellion with the Jaegers, who by the way are the fine gentlemen you see here, leading the charge and I can assure you that through that, we will NOT disappoint you."

"Are you certain of that?" Honest nodded.

"If I wasn't or if I didn't trust you, I wouldn't even be talking right now." Right at that moment, Honest held out his hand which as Hux could see, was donning a rather strange ring, a ring that looked strangely enough like one that was described in his and Snoke's studies of the Sith Empire... which was more than enough to get the motors turning and thankfully, it seemed as though the object was at just the right height to where a simple swipe would definitely not trigger anything.

"Please don't tell me you're already reconsidering." Honest said with a smile. "You already got me in, might as well make due on your promise." Bringing one hand to his chin, Hux knew that this was one of the toughest decisions he would have to make. Yes it was vital to Kylo's plan. Yes it was absolutely necessary and yes, he could not go back to the man and say that he just couldn't do it. But with how everything sounded along with how he completely despised the man, he could swear that with the stench he gave off, just touching him might give him some strange plague that he would never recover from. As the general showcased this hesitation, Wave's eyes lit up, there was hope for them yet.

"Come on Hux, just walk away." Wave whispered to himself at a tone that might've been slightly too loud as evidenced by Honest's glare and Hux's head perking up, showcasing his face had curved into another fake smile, a sight that filled swordsman with regret for opening his big mouth, especially when the two hands finally met, gripped tightly and began a slow shaking motion.

"I hope this is the beginning of a wonderful partnership." Honest said, pulling away after about a minute or so.

"I just hope that it was all worth it." Hux replied as he appeared to slip a small object into his pocket though no one paid any attention to it, especially when it came to Honest who let out a small laugh.

"Don't we all think that?" Right as he let out that grandiose of his, the prime minister took the general by surprise by slapping his back, a move that knocked the air out of him for a brief few seconds. Still grinning, he turned towards his fellow comrades with Hux taking that chance to push his arm off.

"Gentlemen, this meeting is officially adjourned!" Right then and there, Honest began to make his way off with Hux by his side who calmly gave the Stormtroopers a small signal to come along. In the following few seconds, soon the Jaegers began to make their way out with the exception of Kurome and Wave who upon passing him, Seryu took her chance and roughly shoved him to the ground without uttering a single word or sound. The moment the door shut tight with a bang, the swordswoman was just about to rush to help him up when he gave her a small gesture, signaling that he was fine.

"Are you alright?" Kurome asked, her head cocked in concern. The swordsman gave the doorway another glance, his outburst and the recent chain of events still fresh in his mind and continued to remain like that for the following couple of minutes.

"Wave?" Finally, he uttered a reply.

"Are they honestly that stupid?" Before Kurome could say anything, she watched as the man walked up to the wall and without warning, he gave it a violent jab, the force of which caused a small portion of dust to be kicked up and would continue to do so after letting out some breaths for the next few seconds.

"Are they that fucking STUPID?!" The swordsman growled. "Even after all they did to us? Even after all that has happened, we're expected to WORK with them?!"

"Wave..." Grabbing his sword, the seaman turned his attention towards the chairs and with a roar of pure rage, as if the items offended him, he immediately began to slice them apart, a move that was completely unexpected by the usually very calm, gentle soul. Upon reducing them to nothing but shreds, the realization hit the man hard as he immediately stabbed the blade into the floor, letting out several quick breaths in the following few seconds. Unsure of how deep this was, the swordswoman began to slowly make her way towards him, hands outstretched and face filled with concern.

"Don't take it personally Wave," The swordsman said and did nothing. "you're not the cause of all th-"

"But I will be!" The man yelled, his gaze snapping towards her.

"How so?" Seeming to be taken aback, Wave began to quietly repeat the question to himself over and over again.

"How so? How so? You're right, HOW so?! Kurome don't tell me you've forgotten already, you SAW what Seryu did to me back there just for speaking my mind! If I spend anymore time in this godforsaken Empire, it's no secret, I'm GOING to become the cause of suffering!"

"In wh-"

"In YOU!" Wave interjected, the sudden turn taking the swordswoman by surprise. "Now that Seryu hates my guts, she's going to take whatever chance she can to report me to General Budo which would go to Honest and eventually, no matter how many times he denies it! I'm going to die and what will be the result of that? I will NEVER be able to protect you from the First Order and with how they treated you in our encounter, I feel that with this alliance, I don't even think my LIVING body can protect you anymore!" And just like that, Kurome could feel her heart beginning to pound against her chest which only continued to grow stronger and stronger as time went by.

"I mean whatever happened to all that talk about how we 'couldn't trust anyone' or even the old 'don't talk to strangers' ideal we were taught as kids? So now we're just going to throw it all away? Just because our leader has the same twisted mind as these dictators?!" Very much like his little rant towards Seryu, the passion emanating from the guy was coming out in droves and just like that rant, Kurome was left in both shock and awe at how the man had grown. Gone was the timid shyness and in its place was a fire that had been ignited from within, filling his body and mind with a new sense of purpose... and both times, he was doing so in her presence.

"Kurome, how do you expect me to feel about this? How do you expect me to feel when I can't keep a promise to protect someone who broke down a few days earlier? I could use Grand Chariot to run away from it all... but that would be cowardly. I could take you with me... but we'd be hunted down. I could try to fight them off with ALL my might... but I would eventually fall. Kurome, I just... I just..." A few seconds later with a groan, Wave went right back to burying his face into his jacket. "I just don't know what to do anymore." And just like that, the flame went out with most people who viewed this most likely inclining to believe that it was a sign of weakness, like the man just had no strength and/or courage to continue on and just let the stress get to him.

And Kurome would tell them just how full of crap they were.

In all her years, she has worked with many allies and she had to admit that no one and she meant, NO ONE ever could come close to having the same or even a similar bond to what she and her big sister possessed. It didn't matter what the situation was, how loving or witty her partner could be or the amount of gifts that would she would receive, it all couldn't hold a single candle to the natural respect and partnership that she and her sister shared all the way up until the latter's departure. And much to the surprise of even herself, this had continued on as mentioned earlier, literally over the course of years and years on end and it wasn't even that she hated anyone as even those who were not to her liking were still extremely helpful in the many battles that came and went and when asked about why she seemed a bit distant, it was always the same, simple answer of either silence or "I don't know.".

And sure enough, she knew that question was going to continue to be asked but it would no longer be about why she was distant but rather, it would be about the unlikely seaman standing right in front of her.

The exact same seaman that she did so much to and yet would continuously come back for more, his kindness only building up with every return and this is coming from the same girl who actually had to admit that she simply did not like Tatsumi, a guy who was so similar to Wave in just about every way imaginable. She understood why people liked him obviously but with how in that small little bit of time he spent with the Jaegers, he showed himself to be somewhat brash, unresponsive to the point where he seemed to just hate them all and not to mention he was extremely cocky. Granted, the amount of time she ACTUALLY interacted with the boy really only amounted to about two minutes but it didn't matter. The first impression was always important to her and in that regard, Tatsumi completely failed on all accounts.

And all that she just mentioned were either completely missing or weren't in high effect with Wave.

As mentioned previously, while everyone had their own moral qualms with the First Order, they clearly feared for their own lives more than they did following their moral code with the only exception possibly being Run who if she had to be honest, was already somewhat strange when he first made his arrival and as far as Bols was concerned, well... she was certain that being one of the only members with a loving family to live for had something to do with his decision but as far as Seryu was concerned and everyone else, they just said "screw it." and trusted it only because Honest said he liked the idea. Hell, most of them didn't even care or notice how whenever excessive talk or questioning of the First Order came about, she'd just leave without saying as much as a single emotionless phrase.

That was with the exception of the one man who once let his guard open for Esdeath to strike him and had failed to keep Tatsumi, a single person in his sight.

But was that really something to hold against a guy? Was it really necessary when they already had a good heart? Well... thinking back to what had come about so far, no, no it wasn't because for every moment of weakness that Wave showed, he also had at least ten more positive examples under his belt such as when he explained to Bols that he was a genuinely good man who shouldn't beat himself over his past or when he took ACTUAL responsibility for losing Tatsumi and of course, when he told her that no matter what the Empire said, he was always going to try and protect her no matter what and even though he pretty much said that he wasn't even sure he could follow those words, it was the combination of that and his little rant that went FAR in explaining exactly what she liked about him.

He was the only member of the Jaegers that actually kept his humanity in check.

Feeling her heart continuing to beat against her chest at speeds that nearly succeeded in shaking her uniform, Kurome began to listen to her gut and slowly made her way towards the man with careful steps and finally when she was inches away, she held her hand out and touched his shoulder.

"Wave..." Noticing the sudden warmth that enveloped that portion of his body, the seaman raised his head curiously and slowly turned to see Kurome, whose face was just mere inches from his.

"Kurome wh-" Before he could react, the girl had gone in for the kill, her lips crushing against his all in the manner of just a few seconds. Eyes wide open, Wave felt his mind going absolutely insane. On one hand, being a guy who mainly lived out on the sea meant that he had absolutely NO time to start a relationship and with how dangerous the situation was, the idea that the swordswoman would choose now of all times escaped him completely.

On the other hand, he would've been a massive idiot and liar if he said he didn't like this but unlike what some may think, it wasn't for any sort of sexual reason.

Overall, it wasn't the kiss that got to him, it was the possible reasoning behind it and once Wave got to thinking, the realization hit him. This wasn't a case of someone taking advantage of emotion nor was it a case of sexual tension coming to a boiling point.

Kurome was literally doing this as a way of showing him appreciation for not only his actions but overall just his showcase of humanity. And just like that, the man finally let his guard down and just let it happen, his eyes shutting tight as he proceeded to wrap his arms around his partner's waist, pulling her close in the vain attempt of making sure that the moment never ended.

However, like all things in life, it did a few moments later when she pulled away but nevertheless, the whole experience was still a wonderful surprise that left him speechless.

"Kurome, wh-why... why did y-" Holding one finger up to his mouth, Kurome gave him a small smile.

"Just relax," She said softly. "we'll find a way to make it through all this..." Taking notice of his free hands, she immediately reached down and softly grabbed hold. "Together." As usual for a male like himself, Wave didn't quite pick up on that last part as evidenced by his response.

"Together? What do you mean?" The swordswoman couldn't help but let out a small giggle as this was EXACTLY what she loved about the man.

"You don't think that kiss was unplanned did you?" And just like that, the flames in his heart ignited once more. If the man had to be honest, with all the time he spent at the capital, there was definitely a reason he always looked forward to being with Kurome though with the relentless teasing and jokes at his expense, never would he have guessed that those feelings would be returned in any way and yet, much to his surprise, it did and unlike most times where he swore it was just a cruel joke played by his dreams or possibly a hidden ability Kurome had all along, with this one and how her lips felt warm and soft which was exactly how the experience was described, he knew in his heart it was real.

And just like that, the two got right back into it, their troubles and hardships all slipping from memory and in its place was a passion so massive, so potent.

The fear of death had all but completely escaped them.


	15. Chapter 15

( _Finalizer_ )

Looking all around at the massive shimmering training room, it was at that point that everything just hit Mez like a freight train falling from orbit.

Back in the day, if you were to come to her and state how a pair of dictators from space were eventually going to kill your commanding officer and that you would be walking on a gigantic warship up in orbit, she would've straight up laughed in your face and made the rather blunt declaration that you were out of your mind...

Until it happened of course which she would then respond later on by possibly giving an apology for her actions.

Up until the point she actually boarded the Finalizer, Mez was always under the impression that the First Order was more a group that, while not at all strong in numbers, certainly they made up for it in effective battle strategy, training and sheer might alone and thought that especially with the talk they had about spaceships and things of that nature, there was no way that one could ever exist which especially included those as large as the so-called "Star Destroyers".

In that case, one could've imagined the sheer amount of shock she felt when she first stepped foot onto the vessel.

To put it into perspective, the palace was a mere standard camping tent in comparison to the Finalizer as far as sheer size was concerned which while exact numbers are lacking, it has been stated that it was certainly large enough to eclipse an entire moon and given how large each and every room was, she wasn't one to dispute it as being just another cocky boast which was most certainly a wise choice given how brutal the troopers were regarding those who mocked or questioned them in any manner.

Which reminded her of one particular trooper, his unnerving presence gracing the other side of the room, patiently waiting for her to proceed.

To his comrades, he was one of the best soldiers to ever walk and breathe in their presence. To his enemies, he was one of the most feared, stubborn troopers to ever wield a blaster. To trainees, he was an overbearing, short-tempered lunatic with a stick who acts so loyal that they gave him the official nickname of "TR-8R" much to his disappointment and anger.

These were the many different descriptions given to Mez about who was quite possibly the most massive oddity out of all the First Order. The Stormtrooper designated FN-2199 or as she along with many others had come to know him as, Nines.

To Mez and surprisingly enough, several of those who knew him, Nines was regarded as being one massive enigma in the First Order and if they had to be honest, they really couldn't decide if they loved or hated the man. On the one hand, Nines was one of the best the First Order had to offer and the second most promising next to FN-2187 before his betrayal which was explained to her by some of the lesser members of the group. In combat, he was very adaptive to the environment and has practiced in many different aspects of it all though it was clear with both his time as being the leader of the riot control branch and with how quick he is to ditch the blaster, he normally preferred to be up close and personal. He also was apparently known for being one of the most brutal troopers of all time and one who actually enjoyed combat, the adrenaline rush being almost intoxicating to the point where once he started fighting, there was no way you could pull him out of it.

Which led to another positive point about him. Unlike most troopers of the First Order, if you pissed Nines off on the battlefield, he will hunt you down and absolutely, positively, will not stop until you are nothing but a smoking corpse at his feet. This was especially important to note since much like its predecessor the Galactic Empire, the First Order never treated failure lightly and would often choose to relentlessly pursue the enemy all in the vain of making sure that an example could be made for any world who dared to try and challenge their rule. Unlike most troopers, Nines especially took this to heart and with this, it has led to him doing so much to hone his skills that it's often rumored he can take on at least two people at once and win, something that single troopers usually had issue with unless they had a blaster.

Finally, there was the manner of Nines's two greatest attributes, both of which had helped the First Order to win many conflicts which included his skirmish on Takodana where by sheer willpower, he was able to push his body to survive. Of course, they were referring to his unwavering loyalty and conditioning with the former in particular serving as Mez's greatest annoyance.

For a man of what looked to be average height and build, Nines's defenses were like that of a tank as unlike most of his peers with the exception of Phasma, the man would often continue to train after the initial sessions are over with times ranging from a few extra minutes to sometimes a full hour. Through this combined with the extra padding underneath his armor as all riot control Stormtroopers were required to have, Nines could take quite the extreme amount of punishment and more often than not, when people saw him or any of the other riot control officers out on the battlefield, it was thanks to his reputation that they would either turn tail and run or just put their heads between their legs and kiss their sweet lives goodbye.

And of course, there was the big one, his loyalty. From the very, VERY beginning before they can even pick up a blaster, cadets are taught that loyalty to the First Order should be their absolute top priority and that you must keep that loyalty by any means necessary, meaning that if the enemy pushed you for information, you were to keep your mouth shut to the point where if no other option was available, taking your life was considered the best option. Of course, it wasn't always like this but after Phasma felt a significant amount of regret for letting FN-2187 and that smuggler force her into disabling Starkiller's shields, it was apparent that the change needed to be made.

And there was no one who emphasized loyalty better than FN-2199 who took betrayals rather... personally. Being that he was one of the few troopers to gain official recognition by Phasma for his actions, it was easy to see why he was essentially the poster-boy though if most troopers had to be honest, it also led to him becoming quite possibly what they considered to be one of the biggest asshats that has ever traversed the galaxy. When people said that loyalty was everything, they literally meant it. To him, there was no such thing as "friends", it was either you did your job and survive or you died a failure. Not to mention that if you as much as made a single inappropriate gesture or comment about the commanding officers, you'd better hope that he only pelted you with words because all around the First Order, there were always little rumors going around about how one trooper would make a remark about Phasma with Nines around, only to have them turn out dead and buried the next day due to an "accident".

There was of course a lot more she could've thought about at that moment but the message was quite clear in her head. FN-2199 was as she put it, "Phasma Lite" and that all his talk about how she needed to be more serious made her nearly want to hurl or possibly even deck the man in the face.

"So why is it that I like, can't do that?" She mentally questioned, her face moving up slightly to meet the man's gaze. It was all a strange conundrum to her, the trooper was someone whose actions she utterly detested. Granted her own organization wasn't much better but at the very least, they weren't necessarily as heartless as to harm pregnant women or perform anything else of the sort. The First Order on the other hand, it was by far one of the scariest organizations that she ever had the displeasure of serving under and Nines was obviously a part of that so one would guess that logically, she'd hate every fiber of his being and for the most part you'd be right.

Key term being "for the most part".

For some odd reason, despite all that he has done, despite the sheer amount of brutality he showcased, despite his willingness to kill her if need be and his clear dislike towards her actions coming off as more than a little irritating. There was just something about him that kept her mild dislike from falling into complete hatred and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't figure it out.

Was it his skill? Was she just a glutton for punishment? It didn't matter how many times she asked herself that same question, the answer simply refused to come out like a stubborn child who was ordering a meal, always stuttering and mumbling in the hopes that their mother would do the deed for them when they really could've just gotten to the point.

A feeling that Nines was getting rather sick of.

"Are you going to start or have you changed your mind?!" The trooper's shout momentarily jerked the girl free from her thoughts, causing her gaze to shift towards the impatient man, the sight of whom reminded her exactly why she came there.

"Sorry about that," Mez said, cracking her knuckles. "just had a few things on the mind." Behind the helmet, Nines rolled his eyes.

"Don't you mean you were lacking in focus?" Mez shook her head, ignoring the comment as she moved into her fighting stance, a move that surprised the trooper though it wasn't exactly easy to tell since he almost immediately got into his battle stance as well with fists held up by his face and baton neatly holstered on his back. Several minutes passed with the two continuing to stare each other down, the only movements and sounds being low breaths and the usual twitch of anxiety with Nines in particular feeling most of it due to a love he had for combat.

Finally after what felt like an eternity, Nines was about to charge forward when he felt something strike his under-suit, causing him to jump back, scrambling to find what the injury was. After a few seconds, his eyes settled on the open portions of his arms which had gone from being a neat pitch matte black to being slowly eaten away, revealing his flesh. As the trooper continued to look on with shock and confusion, Mez let out a chuckle.

"Like I got your ass didn't I?" Nines's gaze quickly shifted to his sparring partner, his eyes immediately widening the moment it caught a glimpse of the massive amount of sweat that was dripping down her body, causing her admittedly attractive body to glisten and gleam... and it was right then when he put two and two together and realized what exactly hit him which nearly caused him to trip up.

In all his years of being a Stormtrooper, FN-2199 had seen a variety of strange creatures and has heard his fair share of off-the-wall stories. Whether it be tales of Vader having clones made of a dead man in an attempt to have an apprentice, tiny bear-like creatures, Gungans or most recently sadists with the ability to extend their nails and limbs, he swore that he had seen all there was to see but he would've not once expected that in his time, he could find someone that had the ability to weaponize their sweat and now that he had, he wasn't sure if he should be impressed or confused.

He wouldn't think of this for long however since a few seconds later, a tan fist came extending outward, crashing into Nines's helmet with such extreme force, causing him to be sent back, rolling on the ground before being able to stop himself by planting his feet down hard onto the shimmering surface. Letting out a few breaths, the trooper looked up, watching as Mez's arms slowly traveled back to her body.

"Guess you didn't expect a gal like me to have powers like this huh?" Paying no mind to Mez's taunt, Nines just stood up straight and began to crack his neck as he proceeded to get back into his fighting stance. Smirking, the woman just laid out her palm and flicked her fingers towards her, daring the trooper to come towards her. Without as much as a second thought, Nines charged forward right as Mez began unleashing her various abilities. His training immediately coming to mind, the trooper narrowly avoided each and every strike with well-timed flips, jumps and rolls. Impressed but frustrated, Mez decided to kick things into high gear when she then unleashed another one of her powers and extended her sharp nails outward. In a move that seemed like it was occurring in slow motion, the trooper jumped and performed a small spin in a matter quite similar to the Jedi of yesteryear and with careful timing, he narrowly avoided both the sweat ball and the nail strike which only managed to tear open a small chunk of his under-suit, leaving Mez filled with shock.

As soon as he hit the ground, Nines wasted no time and immediately made a brutal sweep with his legs, intending to knock his comrade flat on her back. Noticing this, the girl quickly leaped into the air, her gaze centered on the trooper. Smirking, the woman immediately brought herself down towards the man in a brutal axe-kick motion only to have her face wince slightly with pain seconds later as her foot hit something hard and metallic which caused her to look down.

"Well you certainly have a lot of toys." She commented as soon as she landed, the stun baton coming into view soon after. Ignoring her, the trooper simply jerked his weapon to the side and charged for the warrior who did the same moments later. With baton held up over his head, Nines brought it down with a surge of strength, only to be surprised when Mez slid underneath him and with her own might, she flipped him into the air and with a brutal straight kick, she sent both him and the weapon flying. Seeing the weapon as pointless, the trooper used all the might he had and again, planted himself down on the ground and immediately charged for Mez once more.

In just a few seconds, the two collided with one another and the fight devolved into a high-speed showcase and clashes of various martial arts, fists and legs slamming together at the last possible second before possible impact. As for the fighters themselves, the adrenaline rush that came moments later was exhilarating, especially for Nines who was overall just impressed by how Mez composed herself and how skilled she was.

The way her feet gracefully swept and flew through the air, the way her punches actually left slight cracks and dents in his armor and just the high speeds she was going at were unreal and as much as he hated to admit it, they were far beyond what even the most skilled Stormtroopers could accomplish.

After a few more clashes, the pair's hands grasped one another, signaling the beginning of a struggle. Pushing back with all their might, the two could feel as a small bit of red began to trickle down their hands from the sheer force of it all, only to then ignore it seconds later. Suddenly, Mez drew her head back and with all her might, she slammed it straight into Nines's skull in a similar manner to what Tatsumi did to him a few days back. Stumbling backward, the trooper immediately raised his hands to cover his face with the gloves immediately beginning to be stained in red which confused the girl... until she saw exactly what she had done.

Slowly lowering his hands, Mez looked on with pure shock as piece by piece, the trooper's CRACKED helmet came into view with the most damaged piece in particular being the visor which was completely shattered, revealing his eyes which were filled to the brim with rage. Before she had anytime to react, FN-2199 broke out into a furious scramble towards her, seemingly letting out a roar of anger that echoed throughout the room. Realizing this was serious, the girl immediately undid the horseshoes from her hair, only to have her vision filled with Nines's knuckles the moment they hit the ground.

Without any hesitation, Nines immediately followed up the face-strike with a brutal series of punches to any part he could find though the most common targets were the face and stomach. After a few minutes of being thrashed, the warrior grabbed both the trooper's fists only to then be knocked back by him bashing his helmet against her head, causing her to let go and for him to try and continue his assault.

Having had enough, Mez immediately pounced on the trooper which sent him crashing down flat on his back where she then took her chance to pound the hell out of the man with fists constantly flying. As this continued, the warrior couldn't help but notice that the helmet was constantly wobbling and jerking around. Seeing her chance after a few more seconds, the warrior grabbed hold of the white dome once more, a motion that incited more rage from the trooper who with all his might, he knocked her flat on her ass with his two legs that came crashing into her stomach, the only sound that was heard being a grunt of pain along with a low hiss... which caused Nines's face to light up with shock, especially when both his and Mez's gaze fell onto the damaged helmet that was resting in her hands.

Slowly looking up, the warrior found herself being completely shocked by what she saw. Thinking back to what might've been underneath the helmet, she remembered having her fair share of insane guesses. At one point, she thought the troopers were all deformed clones based on what Nines said though she quickly shot it down due to the troopers she remembered being of many different shapes and sizes. During another, she thought the Stormtroopers were all a bunch of odd alien creatures that maybe kept their faces concealed as to better fit among the populace which while it was a logical theory, she also remembered how the staff members that walked around the Finalizer were indeed human, which shot down her theory as fast as battles between the Empire and Night Raid used to escalate.

And now, everything was finally put to rest and overall, what Mez saw was far from what she had expected.

For one of the toughest Stormtroopers the First Order had ever known, underneath all that armor and weaponry... was just a man. A fairly young man with red hair, a slight bit of stubble on his chin and of course, blood that was dripping down a rather nasty gash on his head. All this came as such a massive surprise, instead of a hardened scarred brute or anything along those lines, what Mez got was nothing but a young man who looked at the very least like he was of college-age... and yet shockingly enough, she didn't mind it one bit.

Upon first glance, she was more than prepared to have the sensation of disappointment wash over her and yet, even after a few minutes had passed, it never came. While she couldn't quite pinpoint why this was, what did strike her was a combination of two things. One was a strange sensation which caused her eyes to slightly widen and dilate while a slight bit of red overtook her cheeks while the other was simply the usual spike of pain with the rather angry Nines having slapped her in the face before snatching the helmet away, a move that left her quite fuming.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Setting his helmet firmly down over his cranium, a low hiss being let out to indicate that it was locked, the trooper shot the woman a glare.

"I think I should be asking you that question." He growled. "Don't you know that it is completely against the code of the First Order to remove a Stormtrooper's helmet?!" Enraged, Mez jerked herself upright.

"You should've warned me if you didn't want that! I didn't know!"

"Most likely because you never bothered to ask anyone due to your lack of responsibility!" Letting out a frustrated groan, the woman leaned in close, her face inches away from the mask.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" She roared. "Can't you for once just pull that stick out of your ass?!"

"Can't you for once be serious about SOMETHING?!"

"And become boring like you? Sorry buddy but I don't swing that way!"

"Maybe if you did actually 'swing that way', I would ACTUALLY trust you!"

"Or you can just trust me for being a loyal soldier!" The trooper let out a sarcastic chuckle.

"Loyal? A womp-rat is more likely to become a Jedi than for you and loyal to be used in the exact same sentence!"

"There you go again! Please explain to me what in the hell a Jedi is!" Just as Nines opened his mouth, Mez immediately cut him off.

"Don't tell me, that's classified as well?" The trooper nodded, angering Mez even more. "Tell me, do you do this with all recruits?! How do people even trust you with the attitude you have TR-8R?!"

"WHAT did you just call me?" Nines questioned angrily. Giving off a mocking smile, Mez just nodded.

"I now get why everyone called you that. It wasn't because you were too loyal or anything like that but rather you are just so unrealistic in your expectations for newcomers and withhold so much information that you are possibly one of the biggest traitors to the First Order to have ever walked the E-GACK!" Just like that, FN-2199 roughly gripped the woman by her top and lifted her up into the air with both hands, paying no mind to where the back of his palms were resting.

"I've told you several times before, you are not to mock me or my commanding offi-"

"Then why have this attitude with new recruits?! Is it because of me being easygoing?"

"No."

"Is it because no one trusts you?!"

"No." Thinking for a moment, the name at long last came up.

"Let me guess, you're still so butthurt over FN-2187!" At that moment, the whole world seemed to stand still right as a flood of memories came rushing through Nines's mind, memories of all the times he had training with the aforementioned trooper all the way up to his fateful battle on Takodana, all of which filled him with such a wide variety of emotion that he couldn't possibly comprehend it. It didn't even matter that Mez of all people brought it up as the memories prevented any sort of focus on that aspect. On the other end, the woman watched as the trooper's features softened and felt as the grip around her top loosened, allowing her to drop onto her feet though her focus was mostly set on the man's clear inner conflict that just showed through his eyes, conflict that she felt she might be able to understand.

"Nines, who was this FN-2187 anyway?" After several long, LONG minutes of silence, the trooper lifted his head towards her, their gazes locking.

"Only one of the finest troopers the First Order had to offer..." He said rather sadly as he looked down towards his open palm. "and my best friend."

"What happened to him?" She asked. "Did he die?" Nines lightly shook his head.

"He threw out his dignity by joining up with the Resistance... and when he killed one of our own." After a few more seconds of gazing into his palm and before Mez could speak, he began to ball it up into a fist right as his tone shifted into something slightly angrier.

"Even with all that we had, even after all the camaraderie we shared and the training sessions we had together, he DESERTED us all in favor of helping that one pilot escape our clutches like the ungrateful bastard he was!" Hearing the usually hard-edged somewhat proper Nines actually curse sent slight chills down Mez's spine as well as a slight hint of... actual regret for what she said. While her experiences in the past didn't exactly hold any cases of betrayal or anything along those lines, she knew how hard it was to lose a friend and while for the most part, she was easygoing about it all, deep down inside were horrific emotional scars like no other and considering how Nines already declared her to not be a friend of his back then, it was definitely clear why this was the case.

"Weren't there other comrades among your sq-"

"They're dead!" Nines angrily cut in. "Slip, Eight-Seven, Seven-Six... the only members of my crew left are Zeroes and Phasma though she doesn't count since she's our captain. All of them were good men." With a sigh, the trooper began to move his way towards the exit, stopping only to pick up his baton right as he let out one last comment.

"And unlike you, they were actual loyal troopers who possessed true skill." Before Mez could even shake herself free from what went down, the door clicked shut, leaving her to ponder about what exactly was going to be her next move.

* * *

( _Imperial Capital -_ _Jaeger HQ_ )

The moment Hux left the room, his sinuses seemed to let out sighs of relief as Honest's stench left them, leaving in its place the fresh afternoon air outside with its trees flowing in the wind, the birds flapping about and flowers slightly waving from side-to-side.

Of course, the general never exactly had a hint of care for a planet's beauty since to him, all that mattered was the resources and the strength of any possible recruits he could find and looking down from his high position at the capital, he certainly caught a great glimpse of that in the form of the Jaegers, all out on the field, training together though from his point of view, they looked a bit more like ants swinging at one another with wooden weapons and things of the like but regardless, the skill they showed was exceptional, almost to the level of Jedi padawans and possibly even knights.

However, there was one particular warrior he had his gaze set on and it most definitely wasn't for a positive reason and that was the black-haired man down below who was currently practicing with a woman with short, similarly colored hair.

While both their names were unknown to him and he never cared enough to want to, what he did recall was the massive amount of insolence that man displayed by daring to question his methods, something that Kylo Ren was quite fond of doing. Not only that but due to his limited knowledge in the Force, he also could tell that something was... off about him soon afterward, like he clearly wasn't open to joining with the First Order and even now, from high up above, he could tell through his movements and that he certainly had a few thoughts on his mind which became even more apparent when on occasion, he would stop to look up towards him.

Unfortunately, this wouldn't be the first time that a warrior in the First Order or the Empire's history showed signs of nonconformity. The most notable example was of course FN-2187 who as Kylo explained to him, seemed to show a massive amount of fear and regret when he spotted him back on Jakku and the next time he turned up, it was when Starkiller Base was completely destroyed and when he helped to essentially break the warrior along with that desert girl who at that very moment, was now training with Skywalker.

However as it turned out through Snoke, FN-2187 was only a single case in a long line of various defectors who date as far back as the days of the Clone Wars with most soldiers either not following Order 66 due to malfunctions in the chip that prevented them from properly joining up as was the case with CT-7567 and two others who they couldn't identify or occasional issues in methods that dated back earlier than the chips which relied more on simply teaching troops to follow the order instead of programming it into them as was the case with Ion Squad who believed the order to be an enemy signal and thus helped to rescue Jedi warriors from being slaughtered.

There were also cases of troopers simply disobeying all because they had a romantic attachment to their Jedi ally as was the case with the elite group known as Omega Squad with the trooper who did this in particular being the one known as Darman. While the details certainly were fuzzy about a few things due to Snoke not knowing everything there was about the Clone Wars, apparently that one was killed by the one known as Boss who felt that his previous actions in saving a Jedi were too unforgivable to have him serve under Squad 40.

The final and possibly least known case of this happening which occurred during the tail end of the era of the Empire was a brother and sister duo known by the names of Sam and Kira who both left the Empire sometime after the battle of Yavin. It was unknown as to what happened to them though it's rumored that one of Kylo Ren's first missions was to travel to Aquilae and kill these two as they were hiding out on the planet and were planning on starting their own rebellion against the First Order, believing that the one headed by Mon Mothma was just as vicious and untrustworthy as the Galactic Empire.

With this information in mind, Hux certainly was going to keep his eyes on the Jaegers as much as he could, especially when considering the plan he had in store for Honest which he proceeded to ponder over as he examined the small ring in his hands.

When taking a short glance at the ring, the first note that the general took was just how... odd the design was. With the simple gold color and the shimmering shape in the middle that looked like an eyeball, it certainly didn't resemble anything the First Order or literally anything the galaxy possessed. Hell, it didn't even resemble the weapons of the Yuuzhan Vong, an ancient race that was rumored to live outside of their galaxy and FAR beyond the Outer Rim with the weapons and tech they possessed being that of living tissue and things of that nature. Not only that but the weapon, while he assumed it was an Imperial Arms, didn't resemble anything that Snoke described nor was it a weapon that seemed to belong to any sort of Sith as he learned, Imperial Arms will possess the residual Dark Side energy of the user who crafted it and so far, the weapon had nothing. Regardless, it was a chance, a chance that Hux just had to take and with that in mind, he began to slowly slide it over his finger, the moment it reached his knuckle being the exact same moment as he felt a low rumble in his coat pocket. Stopping to make sure that no one was around, the general reached in and pulled out his holo-communicator where present on the small disk was the blue figure of the Dark Lord himself.

"Were the negotiations successful?" Hux nodded.

"The prime minister doesn't suspect a thing though honestly, I'm surprised that Esdeath hadn't tried to overthrow him once before since he looks..."

"Pitiful?" Hux couldn't help but give off a small agreeing nod.

"Exactly that, and the Emperor is just a... is just a..."

"A child?" Ren asked, crossing his arms. The general immediately felt a little suspicious.

"How did you know th-wait a moment..." The moment the realization hit him, the general's voice raised. "You withheld that detail from me didn't you?"

"I take it your reaction was as humorous as anticipated?" Red in the face, Hux looked flabbergasted.

"Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to just keep a straight face?!"

"I doubt it would've been any easier for me."

"If I had lost my cool I could've jeopardi-"

"But you didn't which is what's most important." Realizing there was no use in arguing with the man right then, Hux let out a sigh and moved on, stopping when he heard a small noise.

"Ren? Are you training our new guest?" Ren took a small moment to look off to the side, his face developing into a small smile seconds later before he turned back towards his communicator.

"Her skill in the Force is basic at best but she's a natural at it, I think she's going to make a worthy apprentice." Immediately, the general facepalmed.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Actually, I'm n-"

"I know Ren, I should expect it by this point but I just have to ask... why?"

"She has a natural strength in the Force, she's a daughter to the Partas Clan." The general's eyes widened.

"Wait, she's a daughter to THAT clan?!"

"Careful with the volume, you may throw off my student's concentrat-"

"I don't care about that Ren. This is extremely dangerous, do you know where that name originated from anyway?" Kylo calmly brought one hand to his chin.

"It sounded familiar to me but I couldn't tell what it was, I haven't heard the name spoken out loud in a long while." With a loud sigh, Hux gave a cold glare at his commander.

"Allow me to refresh your memory then. The Partas Clan is a long line of hunters descended from a Sith back in the days of the Sith Empire known as Darth Partas!" Kylo's eyes widened.

"Darth Partas... wasn't she the one wh-"

"The one who survived the outbreak on Odacer-Faustin, why yes, yes she was."

"But I thought no one survived that, didn't she die along with her master Sca-"

"She was a master at the academy and was one of the few who actually fended off the undead to live long enough to tell about it. She was a rival to a student I can't quite recall at the moment."

"What does an old Sith Lord have to do with the Partas C-"

"Because NO one just calls themselves the Partas Clan without a reason!"

"Good point, but what does this have to do with Esdeath?" Letting out a sigh, the general relaxed slightly though he looked a bit on edge still.

"Want to know what was one of Partas's many traits?" Kylo nodded, feeling that he had an idea as to where this was going. "I'll give you a few, for a female, she was a massive bulked up individual with quite a bit of muscle who had pale skin and her only bit of hair was a single light blue strip running down the middle. She was known for having an attitude based around the old idea of the world being about the 'survival of the fittest' and often berated and killed those she deemed weak."

"You don't think tha-"

"I think it's extremely possible Ren that you may have a descendant of his among your ranks." At first, the Dark Lord seemed visibly shocked and frightened by the news which Hux expected, ONLY to then see his mouth curve into a grin.

"That just makes this all the more entertaining."

"REN, THIS IS SERIO-"

"Nothing can be more serious than finding those girls and making sure that the First Order is feared by the masses." Before Hux could open his mouth, Kylo continued on. "Speaking of which, what exactly is that ring you possess?" Eyes widening with realization, the general looked towards his hand and snapped back towards Ren who gave him a nod of confirmation. Feeling a small hint of pride enter his system, the man continued on with a proud tone.

"I saw this dangling loosely off the fat fool's finger," He began. "I took my chance during our handshake to snatch it. Why? Is there something you know about this?"

"Only that Snoke told me of a similar sort of weapon owned by Darth Baras."

"Darth Baras?" Hux asked, eyes widened. "I don't think I ever heard of him, I only really studied about Malgus and some of the more infamous Sith Lords." Ren couldn't help but let out a small scoff.

"Or Snoke didn't trust you enough to tell you about them."

"Always such a joker, no I just legitimately had no interest in learning about Baras. If you care so much then why don't you tell me who he was?"

"With pleasure." The Dark Lord began with a nod. "He was the head of the Dark Council and was a Sith who had a strong strategy and penchant for breaking Jedi who were unwilling to follow the Treaty of Coruscant. He had the ring crafted as a last resort type of weapon in case all manner of defense failed."

"And that ability is..."

"The power to break Force-related relics and weaponry. It's a powerful tool but there is just one issue, it can only be used once as Baras feared for those who might've gotten a hold of it."

"So you mean to tell me what I'm wearing right now IS one of these blasted Imperial Arms?" Kylo nodded. "Then HOW in the moons of Aquilae am I still standing right now?!" The Dark Lord shrugged.

"Maybe you just have enough strength to stand up to it. Either way, it's not that important."

"Not that import-WHAT IF I DIE TO THIS?!"

"Do you think I'd honestly care?" Before Hux could let out a fit of rage, Kylo cut him off. "But moving on, since you are still standing, I think this will work better in our favor." At that moment, the general's brow cocked upward.

"What do you mean by that?" Setting his hands behind his back, Ren straightened himself up.

"There has been a change of plans general now tell me, what has Honest told you so far?"

"Only that they're going to be engaging in a battle with something called the Revolutionary Army, what are you talking about?"

"I was thinking that Honest and the Emperor could be... put out of commission sooner than we thought." Realizing what he meant, Hux was just about to blow a gasket when a few seconds later, he recalled how that with the exception of the ring, that seemed to be the only weapon Honest had on him and that when taking that away, what he most likely just did was leave him as being the pitiful old man he thought he was and as for the Emperor... was there anything he really needed to think about? With that in mind, Hux felt as his mouth curved into a small grin at the thought of wiping the man out.

"How soon are we talking exactly?" The general asked with interest.

* * *

( _Finalizer_ )

"As soon as you desire." Kylo replied, his expression looking more than a little pleased that him and the general had agreed on something for once. Stopping for a moment, the small blue figure of Hux began to scratch his chin, pondering over what exactly would be the best time and in just under a minute, he had it as evidenced by his eyes practically lighting up with joy.

"I will do what I can commander, you just make sure that Esdeath is kept under control alright?"

"You have my word general, but remember whatever you do, don't try anything until you are certain that there will be no resistance." Hux gave him an agreeing nod.

"Whatever you say commander." With that all said and done, the man shut off his communicator and turned his attention back towards his greatest accomplishment who was sitting down in a meditating position, eyes shut with the only sounds she made being low, relaxing breaths. As he looked her over, the Dark Lord couldn't help but feel a bit of pride at just how fast things were coming along.

It was hard to believe that the woman sitting in front of him in that dark room, dressed in a standard issue First Order uniform very much in the style of Hux with the patch of their team's symbol being rather proudly displayed on her shoulder, was the same woman he once deemed untrustworthy when she came into the palace all those days back and while he still would've refused her trust possibly due to how quickly she defected from the Empire, it was just how OPEN she was to him about everything that shut down those suspicions right from the beginning.

As much as he hated the man, the best way he could describe Esdeath was that she was a complete reverse of what FN-2187 was with the exception being that instead of giving the Resistance all the info they needed to attack Starkiller Base, she gave them all the info they needed in order to absorb the Empire into their ranks as well as helped to take down the prime minister's son without hesitation and when combined with how she helped in the destruction of Wild Hunt, Kylo Ren was just shocked to find someone who was able to show such unwavering loyalty in such a short time-frame and considering what he had to go through as far as FN-2187 was concerned, that was a relief for him to say.

As he continued to watch the woman, the Dark Lord made his way towards her and dropped down to one knee, making sure to not disturb her practice with the Dark Side which was going to be her only training since judging by how she was a general in the Empire and that she clearly had skill in using sword based weapons, he saw no point in trying to teach her something that she already knew so instead, he decided to focus on the most important factor and that was bringing out more of her Force-sensitivity.

"What do you see?" Kylo asked, his voice low and oddly soothing.

"I see a snowy wasteland," She began after several seconds of not speaking. "the winds are rough and the blizzard is powerful but I'm bearing through it." Realizing the description matched that of the planet Odacer-Faustin, the Dark Lord felt even more pleased at the possibilities that could come from this.

"Good my apprentice, tell me, do you feel fear?"

"I feel nothing but the unflinching rage and determination in my heart master."

"You're under control of your emotions quicker than I imagined." The general couldn't help but let a small smile develop.

"I have my father to thank for that, he was the one who conditioned me into this warrior."

"And he has trained you well." Seeing his chance to move things along, Kylo began to carefully set his hand on his student's shoulder, his eyes slowly shutting as he did so, causing him to slip into that same Force meditation that Esdeath was in and just like that, the latter's voice changed into that of shock.

"Master, a mountain just sprang from the ground and... wait... why are you at the top of it?"

"Only to give you a goal." Kylo replied, his voice mechanical once more due to the mask once again being present. Taking a moment to look around him at the dream landscape, the Dark Lord couldn't help but feel a large amount of sentimental value towards the landscape as Odacer-Faustin was one of the very first training exercises Snoke had for him with the intention being that he was supposed to survive through the brutal cold and conditions in order to prove himself as being the leader of the Knights of Ren. After taking a little while longer to examine everything, he took another glance down at Esdeath who had just started to climb the mountain which while not being very tall, the sharp edges the structure possessed was certainly enough to make the trek difficult.

"Master, what's the point of this?" The general questioned, her voice slightly struggling due to the conditions all around them. Taking in a deep breath, Kylo Ren set his arms back behind his back and began a chilling monologue that he recalled being said by some of the more modern Sith Lords with the apparent source of it being one by the name of Sidious. As Esdeath continued to claw her way up the mountain, the only thing she could take note of was how the sharp voice of her master seemed to cut deeper than the cold air.

"In the ancient times, there was no such thing as the Sith or the Jedi, they were but the sons and daughters of the Force, making use of ALL sides both Light... and Dark. There was a time of balance in the galaxy." Climbing on top of the nearby ledge, the general felt as a HARSH wind came blowing right past her, covering both the environment and a bit of her vision in a white haze.

"For your entire life, you've spent years, honing your skills in combat, PROVING yourself to your father as being a capable fighter who could truthfully bear his family name. Throughout that time of brutalizing Danger Beasts, your muscles scream in agony, your bones wailed in the cold, begging, pleading for an end to the torment." Kylo suddenly stopped and just like that, the ice storms weakened and the fog parted and as she continued her climb, Esdeath heard another voice start up, it was deep and mechanical like Kylo's though it was to a far more... extreme degree.

"But a Sith is more than their body, more than their flesh. You Esdeath... ARE the perfect example of the Force in its purest form." Right as her nails dug into the rock side, another voice started up, sounding less mechanical but slightly more proper in tone.

"Unfiltered." Right there, another voice started up, sounding slightly more brutish and less proper but not to the point of it being a growl.

"Unrestrained." The voice changed once more to that of a hushed tone, one that sounded a bit like a growl but never the less was still slightly restrained and polite though the winds certainly weren't that way as they immediately started up once more, the force nearly being enough to knock the general off the mountainside.

"And unapologetic." With strong heavy stomps, the general made her way up the next cliff-side and looked up, a faint dark figure just barely being visible among the fog and while it wasn't Kylo, she could feel the Dark Side emanating off of it in DROVES, convincing her to continue on as another voice started up, one that had a low, eerie hiss to it.

"In those early times when Dark and Light were one in the Force, fallen eyes turned to our galaxy with a desire for conquest and plunder. Our masters knew deeply what to do as I'm sure your father did with those beasts and drew upon the deepest, darkest corners of their body's power and used that to inflict horror after horror on those invaders, delivering the galaxy from the jaws of chaos... whereas your father let their weakness overtake them." As Esdeath continued to force herself up the mountain, as the figure came closer and closer into view, the thing spoke with a slightly proper tone and for the rest of the way, it continued to speak as the fog enveloped the top, blocking him and the mountain from sight.

"But in the shadow of that victory arose a new enemy. Some believed that the use of the Dark Side or any dark energy, even in the manner of defense was most... unnatural and something to be feared and forbidden. This split the students of the Force in two. Those who felt that the Dark Side was worthy of study and mastery became known as the Sith while those who feared the unknown and tried to chain down the Dark Side and forbid the use of ANY necessary action of brutality, the very life-blood of the Force... became known as the Jedi. This was one of the many places where we thrived in academies all across the galaxy, anxiously waiting for when we could rise and bring an end to the pathetic Jedi and all who try to keep the Force down. This was a place where the Sith could experience the full power of the Dark Side without restriction. They began to unravel its secrets that we Sith have been perfecting for centuries now. Exploring them, building off of them, passing the knowledge down from master to apprentice until the store of wisdom became too vast to be recorded in a mere written form. Alas, alternatives were found." After what felt like several long grueling hours of climbing, Esdeath reached what she assumed was the top though due to her vision being filled with snow and fog, her clothes being rattled and shook by the harsh winds which would've sent her off the mountain had she not planted her feet down right then and there. A few moments later, right as the sound of rocks colliding against one another rang out, the fog finally parted, revealing Kylo Ren among what the general could best describe as a sea of dark figures and with the one shared theme they had of piercing yellow eyes, she assumed that they were indeed, Sith from several generations... and they were quite the diverse band with figures ranging from a red male marked in black tattoos with small horns protruding from his head to a dark mechanical monstrosity whose eerie breathing and flickering control panel left her somewhat unnerved though her attention was mainly drawn to the two figures in the center.

The first being a massive bald pale man, draped in hard metallic armor and what appeared to be a respirator around his mouth and the other was a female similar in height and appearance with the armor and she had a single strip of hair at the center of her head... which matched Esdeath's own. Though she wasn't her mother, the woman calmly motioned for her to drop to her knees and kneel which she did so, right as the bald figure continued on.

"For centuries, we Sith have been lurking in the shadows, practicing the dark arts, silently working until we could at long last rise again and take our rightful place as the true rulers of this galaxy! While the Jedi merely studied the Force, we lived and breathed it. While they drew on the Force, we embodied it."

"Why did you need to remain hidden for so long?" Esdeath questioned. "Why couldn't you have just taken what was rightfully yours if already you were so strong?"

"Because it is far more difficult to strike at a shadow than a man. We're the Force in it's purest of states and likewise, there were so few of us who could actually handle being like this. Most of us turned to the Light, others fell to weakness, for centuries we assumed our power was all but lost... until you came along, Esdeath... descendant of the great Darth Partas." Immediately, the woman's eyes jerked open and she looked up towards the figure with blue hair, the realization hitting her on who she was and before she could open her mouth, Partas nodded.

"As my friend Malgus explained, you are along with your master Kylo Ren, the next generation of the Sith. For generations we had been thought to be all but extinct until Snoke brought the Dark Side brought the Dark Side back out of hiding, giving birth to Kylo Ren which has led us to you..." With a wave of his hand, Partas seemed to cause a huge gust of wind to appear, covering the landscape once more in white, leaving the general to shield her eyes. Seconds later, she opened them again to see that her position had completely changed as well as the mountain itself as all around her, the Sith all stood in a nice circular formation with lightsabers ignited with the only one being in the center being her own master.

"Hold out your hand." Immediately complying, Esdeath held her wide open palms out, flattening them. Slowly, Kylo lowered his lightsaber blade onto her hands, watching as she slightly winced with pain as the blade began to scorch and eat away at her flesh.

"Pain is only but a sensation, one that is only as horrific as you make it..." Slowly, Esdeath began to take in nice, deep breaths with each passing moment causing her issue to slowly subside. "Through the Dark Side, you can take this pain and turn it into power, power that when drawn upon can leave your body feeling even more energized than an average day of rest." Seeing as the pain completely drained from her face, Kylo smiled. "And you certainly are getting it my apprentice... now, awake." With that simple command, everything seemed to go back to normal. The general's eyes shot open and she began to slowly look around, the snowy wasteland fading from memory and vision with it instead being replaced with the shimmering metallic look of the Finalizer.

"Your connection to the Force was strengthened with my help." Kylo explained just as Esdeath opened her mouth. Calmly, the man stood up and began to walk away from her with hands behind his back. "So far the most you'll be able to achieve are basic pushes and throws with maybe a small lightning strike if you're lucky." Slowly, Ren turned his attention back towards his apprentice, his scarred face not being able to help itself but show a smile.

"But from what I can tell, I don't think that will be much of an issue." As soon as she stood up, Esdeath gave Kylo a bow.

"What is thy bidding my master?"

"Assemble FN-2199 and the other Stormtrooper squadrons, we're going to be joining in on this battle with the Revolutionary Army."

"What about you?" As the door began to open, Kylo signaled for Esdeath to come along.

"I will be joining you but only to find the girls and Tatsumi." Kylo explained. "You also will be judged by me and if you can succeed in this, you will receive your official Dark Side title."

"And what would that be?"

"Vitani Ren, mistress of the Knights. Now come, we must make haste." With a nod, Esdeath made her way towards her master's side and walked out with every trooper they passed taking note of her changed appearance. However, it wasn't the outfit they were looking at as they already knew of it prior but rather it was a change that could be noted with anyone who was immersed in the Dark Side.

That being her piercing yellow eyes outlined with an added color of blood red.

* * *

 _Author's Addendum:  
_

 **For those who want to know, here are the Sith Lords that spoke as Esdeath made her trek to the top of the mountain in order of appearance since of course, I was vague in my descriptions of the voices.  
**

 **Kylo Ren**

 **Darth Vader**

 **Darth Revan  
**

 **Darth Plagueis**

 **Darth Sidious**

 **Darth Malgus**


	16. Chapter 16

( _Finalizer_ )

"Has the First Order just lost all faith in me?"

While everyone was out and about, testing weapons, checking up on manuals and systems and training for the upcoming invasion. The Dark Lord Kylo Ren was hunched over in his chambers, hood pulled back but with the mask once again covering his features with his gaze being fixated on the cherished, damaged helmet of his grandfather. It had been a few days now since they first approached the uncharted galaxy and a few months since he first started demanding that Snoke permit him to embark on this quest in spite of almost every staff member giving him either a cold stare or the simple straightforward answer of "No." whereas those such as General Hux shed far more light on why exactly they thought this way.

General Hux, as usual, mainly focused on his massive gaping faults as a strategist and his focus on bringing nearly the ENTIRE fleet of the First Order when he was only looking for two girls. He also took the time to point out how even if an operation like this was intelligent, a military should always target the head first and try to work out everything from there regardless of how meticulous and slow-paced it would go which Kylo admitted, fit the stories of his grandfather very well as from what he heard, the man was a brilliant strategist in both the Clone Wars and the first Galactic Civil War.

But unlike every other guideline Darth Vader left behind, the idea of being a strategist was something that honestly bored the man. Granted he has been trying to implement a bit more strategy recently especially with this most recent plan regarding the Empire but even then he just changed his mind and ended up telling the general that it was okay to just start destroying whenever he felt like it.

Was it a poor idea? Considering that when he brought it up to the staff of the Finalizer everyone just let out a bunch of frustrated groans, gave him strange stares or even went as far as to declare him a moron (an action that unfortunately left the one who did so with their throat crushed.), he was willing to admit that it may not have been his best plan but regardless, what he was doing was working.

The populace was fearing the First Order with their wanton acts of destruction, it has reached two groups that were essentially the Rebellion and the Galactic Empire but on smaller scales, it was setting the pieces in motion for him to finally complete his mission and most important of all in one of the most shocking cases, he had an APPRENTICE, something that Vader was only rumored about having in the past and since the outdated Rule of Two was being tossed out, it appeared as though that the will of the Force was what led to him meeting someone as experienced of a manipulator and warrior as Esdeath which in of itself, led to him learning about the existence of Imperial Arms or Teigu which until that point, the only bit of news he received regarding a weapon powered by the Force were the weapons on the Finalizer which were powered by Kyber crystals and a rumor surrounding Darth Baras and how by channeling his own Dark Side energy through a golden ring, he was able to shatter the Force barriers of any user which led to him gaining such a high position of power among the Sith.

Speaking of Imperial Arms, what was quite possibly the most interesting and useful of all them was the Demon's Extract, the weapon of his apprentice and judging by the two examples he received during his time at HQ (which was still being manned by the staff he "gained" from Bolic), this was by far one of the most useful tools that he has ever seen in any galaxy and overall, it made Esdeath one of his most shining warriors and considering he lived in a world where stories about how warriors such as Pre Vizsla were able to go toe-to-toe with Jedi such as Obi-Wan Kenobi despite lacking in Force-sensitivity, that made his compliment hold far more weight and value.

As far as Kylo was concerned, especially when considering that the planet's forces were quite weak compared to them anyway, the idea of going for really sharp strategies now would be like trying to train a Hutt in the ways of the Force. It was pointless in concept and the outcome could turn out horribly especially if he overthought everything. Which is what made the opposition by his own troopers, all the more questionable since at the meeting, many of the soldiers present actually took the time to praise the success of the mission including Captain Phasma who told him outright.

"Even if I cared then about how you were conducting this operation, I know better than to talk back to my commanding officer especially when the results have been so exceptional." Although some soldiers have told him that this was because she was one of the few people who in her younger years actually worked for the Galactic Empire and so she most likely had the opportunity to see Vader and the Emperor in person and from what he heard from Snoke, they didn't take failure or opposition lightly, Kylo just felt that there were no truer words than what Phasma had said.

If only the others shared her views.

Even for warriors as loyal as FN-2199, this plan of his was ridiculed and shot down at speeds that put Esdeath's join-up to shame, a practice that was becoming all too common... but at the very least, he had the chamber to lean back on.

With just one look at the charred remains of his grandfather's helmet, not only did he feel the Dark Side energy filling his body and mind but he also could recall the struggle he went through to get it on Endor where he spent whole DAYS just searching for the thing with every Ewok and Resistance soldier he came across being slaughtered without a hint of remorse and how he found it resting neatly alongside the ashes which he also gathered and had it placed in a small little urn of sorts along with the ashes of the Jedi he had killed as a symbol of his power. Thinking back to it, he remembered the overwhelming trembles that rippled through his soul at the time as just a single prideful tear came trickling down his cheek as his fingers just lightly grazed the surface and how in that time, he felt that was all he needed.

As soon as that thought came up, the Dark Lord couldn't help but give the room a good thorough examination, his fixation being especially set on the various chests and drawers he had to contain all the various relics he plundered over the years, showcasing just how the times had changed.

With the delivery of Darth Vader's lightsaber which was made by the Knights of Ren, the man felt a new drive to start gathering every relic he could find, both Dark and Light Sides being included and when asked about this, Ren would quite simply explain that due to Snoke believing his special talent to be his skills in both sides, he found it more important to learn about his galaxy's history as a whole and not just the Sith. With that in mind along with the temporary new alias of the Grave Digger which he took to the extra mile by changing his outfit as so to not attract any attention from the Resistance as well as masking his Force signature and changing his personality to match more that of an old hermit who simply had a fascination with the Old Republic era with nothing else to be concerned about with the only occasions he didn't do so being when he explored planets that either have long since been abandoned or when he sent spies out to retrieve them on worlds as dangerously affiliated with the New Republic as Coruscant.

Much to his surprise and delight, it was all a complete success and through that, he was able to gather artifacts as minor as a Darksaber to major objects such as one lightsaber he plundered from Rhen Var and while it didn't necessarily belong to a Sith exactly, the user was versed in both the Dark and Light Side which made it important nonetheless though what became his most prized possessions were the relics belonging to the Sith Lords of the past.

Nihilus's mask, Malgus's respirator, the mask of Revan, various Sith holocrons, all this and several more were plundered from their grave-sites and while it left the areas with only a tiny portion of residual energy, it meant that Kylo was able to have the full experience and to him, that was the only thing that mattered especially as he was sitting there, his voice having a slight hint of depression to it.

"How did you do it?" He asked, his head turning back towards the helmet. "How was it that you were able to handle all this grandfather?" Slowly, carefully, he touched the tips of his fingers to the relic.

"How were you able to handle all the slander, the opposition and have those still listen to you? How was it that you were able to have such willpower to continue on with your task regardless of those who mocked you?" Freezing at a thought, Kylo began to tilt his head downward, his tone now having a mixture of both anger and regret which seemed to be matched by the unnatural low rumble of the Force that was now coursing through his body.

"How is that with my training, I'm still so weak, so frail?" As this was going on, he couldn't help but think back to one important moment in his life, one that helped to shape him into the very warrior he was to that day.

The death of his father, Han Solo.

He could recall the sayings from Snoke as if they were yesterday. "Even you, master of the Knights of Ren, have never faced such a test." When he first heard it, he simply stated with steely resolve that his training had made him strong enough to resist the pull to the Light and that he would put an end to that once and for all. But had he known how he was going to feel after that pulsing blade came stabbing straight through his chest, incinerating his vitals and leaving him with his mouth agape, expression seemingly a mixture of both pain and shock, as much as he hated to admit it, he most likely wouldn't have done what he did.

The action certainly drew him closer to the Dark Side and with his loss against the scavenger that followed, it definitely served its purpose in providing him with a new sense of determination to push himself through the Supreme Leader's hellish training but in spite of all that, nothing could heal just the sheer amount of emptiness he felt in his heart after the deed was done, like someone had punched a hole straight through his chest and ripped the heart out of the cavity. Slowly, the warrior lifted one of his hands from the helmet to touch his own, tracing his finger along one cheek, the same cheek that Han in his final moments of life, gently rest his hand against right before he fell down into the reactor below and it was during that moment in particular that he realized exactly what his master meant when he told him how even he had never faced such a test before.

It was at that point he realized that complete devotion to the Dark Side didn't just require extreme tests on the physical and spiritual planes but also it was a test of emotion, a test that Kylo couldn't help but feel that he failed, especially when he couldn't even help but shed that one final tear as he watched his father fall into the abyss.

"How is it that the pain is still here?" At that point, his voice was slightly cracking, something that caught the attention of a certain blue-haired general standing in the doorway to his chamber as well as his own though unlike her, his attitude towards it was that of frustration. "How is it that I still continue to shed tears?" Slowly but surely, the general began to make her way towards her master, using her basic skill of masking her Force signature and the man's current emotional state to her advantage though she'd be lying if she said that it didn't get to her somewhat, especially when it started reminding her of the one time she watched as one of the Jaegers broke down due to the death of one of her comrades.

"I should be past this." Kylo growled, clenching his fist. "I'm the grandson of Anakin Skywalker, the legendary Darth Vader." Esdeath was carefully coming up on being just mere inches away. "I'm the commander of the First Order, I helped to bring dignity back to the name of the Dark Side." A few moments later, the man couldn't help but let his head lower even more, his voice cracking a bit more though the rage was still present. "I'm the master of the Knights of Ren and yet how is it that I'm still so... so..." Her smile warm and inviting, the general slowly bent down, arms outstretched and before the man could finish his sentence, she took her chance and wrapped him up in a nice loving hug.

"Ignore them," At the sound of the voice, Kylo jerked his head to the side, ready to strike, stopping when he both realized who it was and when her face filled his vision. "they just don't know how powerful you are my master." Feeling as though he just couldn't believe it, the man let his head droop right as he let out a sigh.

"It's not just that Esdeath," He began. "if this was the first time I had this happen to me I would be just fine. But this has been going on for years now with no signs of stopping."

"Maybe you just need to remind them how terrifying you can be."

"And see if the thousandth time gets through to them?" Kylo asked. "As helpful as that suggestion sounds..." He paused for a moment to let out one long sigh of frustration, recalling the amount of times he had corpses being jettisoned out garbage disposal into the vacuum of space along with the staff he had killed recently in the attempt to make an example, only for them to just continue berating him like nothing ever happened. "I've just gone through it too many times now and they have brought no signs of improvement."

"And do you think your grandfather acted like that?" Kylo shook his head, Vader would've sooner risked killing himself to kiss a Wookiee than he would let this get him down... which soon had his ears perking up.

"How did you..."

"I talked with the staff around here." Esdeath replied with a smirk. "But I also have your meditation training to thank for that." Since it was fairly recent, Kylo instantly recalled how thanks to the massive amount of Dark Side energy present, they were able to "meet" his grandfather or at least, a manifestation of him through the Force and how he explained many different things to them which included the reveal of his bloodline to Esdeath. At that moment, Ren couldn't help but chuckle to himself, his student was just full of surprises though it came as soon as it went, the depression settling back in with ease like a stubborn parasite.

"My grandfather was a Sith Lord and an experienced one at that. He set a standard for all his descendants, a standard that no matter how hard I try, I simply can't meet it."

"But you have met it master. Look around you." Once again, Kylo found himself gazing at the massive collection of "trophies" he had strewn about in the room. "Didn't you say that these artifacts were discovered and scavenged by you and the First Order?" The Dark Lord nodded. "And didn't you say that there wasn't a single item that was carried over from the Galactic Empire?"

"Yes, but what good are trophies if you are the only one who appreciates th-"

"I appreciate them." Esdeath cut in. "I may not understand the Sith legend completely but with all the effort you put into gathering all these ancient relics, just so you can build up a stronger connection to the Dark Side, it's all so unbelievably impressive." Behind the mask, Kylo gave a small half-second smile before moving right back into his sadness.

"If only the rest of the First Order was like that. If only they were to actually respect what I've been able to accomplish for the past few days."

"And why should you care what they or Hux thinks? When I look at what you've done, I see nothing but success."

"Like what?" Kylo asked, looking up as Esdeath made her way back to her feet.

"Like what? Master, you were the one who actually struck fear into the heart of the Empire, you took down Wild Hunt and Bolic, got the assistance of the Demons and most important of all." Right as Kylo stood up, Esdeath motioned to her outfit. "Well, you were the one who opened my eyes to the idiocy of Honest and just how terrible he was at running an organization as massive as the Empire and what did you earn from that?" The thoughts came flooding in, causing the man's tune to change to something slightly more perky.

"I learned of the Imperial Arms and I gained you as an apprentice." Esdeath gave him a smile, setting her hand down onto his shoulder.

"Which is something that Honest would NEVER be able to accomplish on his own even if he had the best weapons and looks in the universe." Considering how uncharacteristically happy Hux seemed to be at the fact that the "alliance" wasn't going to last an eternity, he definitely was curious about what this Honest even looked like but of course, he also couldn't help give Esdeath's words some thought and needless to say, there was quite a bit of truth to them as they reflected those stated by the Supreme Leader and the other Knights of Ren a little while back.

All his life, for every time he was told by his admirals about how pitiful and pathetic he was especially with how he was bested by an untrained scavenger there came the words of encouragement by Snoke who either reminded him about what he accomplished or what almost always helped him to relax, something that he had memorized down to the last letter from the very moment he began his training which he began to mentally recite the moment it came to mind.

"Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken." At the very last moment, he looked down at his open palm and mouthed the last portion.

"The Force shall free me." It was always that last line that got to him as it held the most truth in the matter. With his Jedi training under Skywalker, he was completely worthless as while he did help to bring out his max potential in the Force, the only application he really taught him in was defense, always talking about how using it in more aggressive manners can have the potential of leading him into the Dark Side and would continuously go on and on about how it was a gateway to abilities with their only purpose being that they would bring him pain and suffering.

While the suffering had always been there, it was when Snoke broke down the gate to these dark abilities that Kylo truthfully felt alive. As a Jedi, Ben Solo was frail and worthless with a quick death being very inevitable. But as the warrior Kylo Ren, he could consider himself to be a god. No longer was he limited to only using basic pushes, throws and pulls in order to disable the opponent, now he could actually brutalize them, maim them, for every person that they inflicted harm upon, he inflict that on them and multiply that by the thousands with lightning, strangulation, mind crushing or combine them all for one devastating effect.

For all intensive purposes, Esdeath was absolutely right but then again, she wasn't the first to state this as Snoke, Phasma and even Hux every once in a while couldn't help but point out the elements he liked about him and for the most part, it amounted exactly to what his apprentice said with only the occasional change in wording.

And considering how his tone sounded so much more pleasant right there, the warrior didn't care about that fact one bit.

"Thank you Esdeath." Kylo said with a respectful nod. "I'm glad to see that I have an apprentice with a brain."

"A brain that I'm always willing to use for you my lord." She replied with a smile and crossed arms before turning her attention back towards the exit to the room. "Now how about we go and check up on how the weapons and formations are coming along." Nodding in agreement, the Dark Lord began to make his way out the door, stopping to take one last glance at his possessions which were still standing tall and proud, a sight that always seemed to please him though considering how his experience has been with Esdeath so far, he had much more reason to be pleased though the thought of her did remind him of a rather odd occurrence that seemed to go down whenever she was around and that was the simple factor of his heart seeming to skip a few beats. A fact that Kylo couldn't help but fixate on as the only other times this happened was with someone back at Luke's academy who he couldn't remember a single thing about with the exception being that their name started with a "W" and when he discovered the scavenger's inherent strength in the Force.

"This general..." Kylo mentally began, slowly shifting his gaze towards Esdeath who was walking right by his side, her appearance seeming to be far more attractive to him for whatever the reason may be.

"Could she be the one?" After a few more minutes, they made it to the elevator and as soon as they did so, the Dark Lord decided to put it out of his memory and move on, his focus now being set on making sure that the tests went well.

* * *

( _Imperial Capital_ )

Being the ruler of the Empire, one would think that the Emperor would take part in practically every meeting there was. After all, he had shown a great desire to involve himself in the business of his people and he was taught from the very beginning that as emperor, he had to show a massive amount of care for his job and for the most part, he did just that, often showing up to executions, troop rallies and of course, parades that were thrown in his honor.

However, there was one thing he didn't exactly care for which was mostly due to his age and if one asked what it was at that moment, he'd point you towards the direction of a small cracked door that he was walking away from and upon taking a closer look and listen, you would immediately understand the moment you heard the drunken rambles of Prime Minister Honest along with a clearly less than pleased General Hux who judging by the tone, was ready to take a gun to his head and call it a night but unfortunately for him, he HAD to remain there as it was vital to maintain this "friendship" until the battle came which made him especially envious of the Emperor who didn't have to take part in anything like this and so he was free to walk around the building alone... without anyone watching him... and without the Jaegers as they were all resting for the night. Seeing his chance, the general raised a small device to his mouth as the prime minister continued to laugh away at his own joke and whispered into it a small order.

"The Emperor is alone, do what you must." Afterward, he of course lowered it and was forced to listen to more of the fat man's rambling but while that was going on, the young ruler was busy tiptoeing his way down the halls which with both how dark and narrow they were, it was more like walking through a minefield to him than it was a simple trek to his room and considering he was still so young, he couldn't help but feel slightly unnerved.

Being one of the few people who didn't get the news about the First Order right away, it came as quite the surprise that he would even bother to be so kind with Hux. After all, this was the exact same organization who tore villages to shreds regardless of affiliation and for some of them, they were home to the Empire's best supporters so the idea of essentially giving the "keys to the kingdom" to them instead of just tossing the said keys down the metaphorical bottomless pit you'd think would be considered suicide.

Shockingly enough, you would be right. Behind all that smiling and attentive listening lay a great deal of burning hatred for the group along with a desire to put them all down for good. In fact, the original plan wasn't to give away everything so easily especially with how they were missing Esdeath and instead, he would've ordered the Jaegers to take them out and toss their corpses to the beasts which he most certainly could do given how the group looked like a bunch of regular humans so one was left to wonder why he didn't do it and he would answer your question with a simple, expected answer of a child.

The First Order, for lack of a better term, freaked him the hell out.

And it wasn't just one element either like the Stormtroopers, Hux himself or the news, just about EVERYTHING regarding this band of monsters was enough to have his hair standing upright and the feeling of helplessness in the pit of his stomach feeling deeper and deeper just as he had the feeling that someone was getting closer and closer.

While he wasn't exactly the earliest to the party, the news certainly shocked him all the same with the reasoning being so exact that there was no reason to go over it again. The only difference that could be said however was just how useless he was against them.

Now like most warriors in the Empire, the Emperor did possess an Imperial Arms and it was quite the special weapon. Unlike most, it could only be used by those who are of a royal bloodline and as for its defenses, it had enough firepower to level an ENTIRE city block which made it quite the force to be reckoned with.

Unfortunately, that was the only form of weaponry the boy had and was the only way he could combat against any sort of threat and with its rather... unique nature, the only time it would be useful was if he was dealing with either an armor-type Imperial Arms user or whatever giant monstrosity that Stylish might've cooked up and not only that but as a further kick to the teeth, the boy had absolutely zero combat experience and as far as he could tell, the First Order certainly wasn't the negotiating type.

And finally, there was the issue of Prime Minister Honest, the one that the Emperor had considered his closest friend and mentor for the longest of times. It was with his guidance that he was able to rise up the ranks of the Empire and bring the capital into a period of peace, tranquility and prosperity with the only enemies that stood in its way being the Revolutionary Army who actually were starting to look far better when compared to the First Order.

Regardless, it was thanks to Honest's assistance that the Jaegers were able to be rallied, that he was able to have one of the most feared armies across the country. To him, Honest was very much like the grandfather he never had and in spite of all his flaws, he still owed a lot to him.

Which is why he still couldn't wrap his head the fact that the man actually would join up with the very people who caused the Empire so much hassle in the first place and it didn't matter how many times it was explained to him. In fact, it was almost as though the idea was sounding stupider and stupider with every explanation and with every time it was brought up, he had the massive urge to just deck the fatso straight in the face and have Budo take his place.

However, with his lack of combat skills combined with how he put a lot of his trust into the prime minister, he knew that the very idea, while satisfactory, was just impossible to perform and with that in mind, he knew that the best possible option was to just remain silent, polite and just simply agree to it all despite how likely it was that he just signed his death sentence.

Which considering the almost eerie silence that the corridors possessed with the sound of drunken rambles rapidly fading, that seemed highly plausible considering the pieces were all in place.

No guards were around to protect him with them either being asleep or patrolling the outside walls to prevent any Danger Beasts from waltzing in. The Jaegers were all fast asleep with the exception being some strange groans coming from Wave's room which had his imagination racing with almost every thought ending on the possibility that they were being attacked by the First Order and that there was nothing he could do about it which convinced him to just keep walking. Speaking of the First Order, there definitely was something about how easily they accepted everything that just didn't seem right to him which seemed most apparent by how Hux's tone seemed to be just so false throughout the entire experience and when combined with how the troopers still kept their gaze on him even after lowering their weapons, it certainly didn't do anything to raise his morale and with every passing second, the atmosphere seemed to get creepier and creepier as the sound continued to fade with the room only getting darker and darker.

And it would continue on like this for several more seconds, until suddenly, the boy felt as he was immediately seized by a pair of strong arms that easily hoisted him up in the air, leaving him ready to scream when they suddenly covered his mouth. Using what little self-defense knowledge he had, the Emperor with all his might tried to bite down on the stranger's arm... only to immediately regret it once he felt a surge of pain in his mouth as his teeth came crashing into something thick but smooth, almost like how he pictured the Stormtrooper armor feeling like... which just filled him up with even more fear and at that moment, he tried his best to shake and thrash, using all his strength in an attempt to break free.

Only to have those efforts repaid with a sickening "CRACK!"

After several seconds of waiting in order to see if it was truthfully all done, the trooper in question, without a single care, slung the body over his shoulder and looked towards his comrade whose visor lit up with green, signaling the new addition of night-vision to the design which was made after missions on Dathomir proved to be nearly suicidal without the help of Kylo using the Force to guide their way through.

"We're in the clear FN-1138." The trooper said with a salute to which the other only gave a simple nod and with that in mind, the two walked off towards one of the possible exits with FN-1138 stopping to give one final message to Hux.

"Our first catch of the night is complete general, you're now in the clear to begin the next phase." With that said and done, he lowered the device and turned towards his partner, holding his hand out to stop him.

"I have a better idea and one that's sure to frighten our fat friend."

* * *

 _Author's Addendum:  
_

 **Before I go, I just thought** **that I would take this moment to get a few things off my chest regarding the current reviews I've been receiving. While I've already responded to one of them through PM, I do feel that it needs to be said on here as well for those who are thinking of posting similar comments in the future and before I start this, allow me to make this clear.  
**

 **Some parts of this may come off as me more ranting and possibly pissing off a few readers so I'm just going to let you know right now that this is unavoidable. If you do feel I am targeting you personally, I apologize in advance since I only have the best of intentions with this. However, this does NOT give you the right to seek out these individuals and attack them directly. Polite disagreement and discussion is very much allowed but as far as sending out flames to these people is concerned, all reviews featuring that will promptly be deleted. Not negative criticism necessarily but rather anything that resembles an attack.**

 **Now that you've been informed, let me start off by making one thing clear.**

 **I don't hate nitpicks.**

 **Let me repeat that, I do NOT hate nitpicks. While I may personally have an issue with people who confuse a nitpick with a legitimate complaint that everyone is talking about, I understand that nitpicking is something that even the most open-minded, sensible readers do since like anuses, opinions are something that every person has.**

 **For that matter, I also have no problem with negative criticism. Yes I do respond better and more frequently to the positive comments than I do the negative but that's just my heritage. I come from a family with a long history of being stubborn about any sort of critique and things like that are just hard to shake. However, I do try my best to correct things that are legitimate mistakes and as some people such as Lord Asmodeus will tell you, I also try to explain the reasoning behind choices I make as I feel having a combative attitude against criticism is unhealthy and considering that even some of the best authors fall into this trap, it's something I try to keep myself aware of at all times.  
**

 **On the other hand, my attitude regarding criticism that's helpful can be considered... well... let's just say that some people may find it slightly picky and more selective than they would like.**

 **While I do allow criticism of all types which include nitpicks, I do end up getting disappointed when literally all the review is doing is just praising how I'm going to kill this character, complaining about how I "missed" this certain figure or most recently, a critique that unfortunately seemed to ignore everything in the story along with the hardships and rules of science-fantasy in general.**

 **In other words, when I look in my reviews and I see comments like this:**

 _"_ _you forget to mention Darth Revan and Nihilus"_

 _"You forgot to mention Finn issues."_

 _"A stormtrooper wears full body armor so no nutkicking is allowed."_

 _"The First Order would become Esdeath bitches as Esdeath is the queen."_

 **I have two halves. On the one hand, I understand that some of you are in fact passionate fans of these franchises and/or my work which encourages more comments like this as you don't want to see me screw it up which is honestly very thoughtful.  
**

 **On the other hand, especially when it comes down to the comments about me apparently missing Darth Plagueis and Darth Nihilus in the Esdeath scene, forgetting the issues Finn had and of course the old "a Stormtrooper shouldn't be able to be kicked in the nuts" bit, I just can't help but wonder if the people in question even read the same story or they're just searching for things to nitpick.**

 **Now as far as comments about me possibly going a bit too fast or using too much block words are concerned, I personally am glad to see you point those out as they do actually help me and for those who do send me your ideas, that is also really cool and I am forever grateful for that.**

 **In other words, I'm not trying to throw anyone under the proverbial bus here. I am simply trying my damnedest to express my frustrations over comments like the ones I mentioned regarding how I apparently forgot characters that most likely, I just saw no point in adding or giving lines to or in the case of the comment regarding "Finn issues", that I apparently forgot to feature an element when the story at that time was only about SIX chapters long or in other words, it was still way too early in the story for anyone to tell if I had even forgotten it or not.  
**

 **It's that same kind of ignorance that I had to deal with on my story Regretful Battle of Legends, a tale that took a more brains over brawn look at the Goku vs. Superman Death Battle made by ScrewAttack. Despite me continuously stating in huge paragraphs on both chapters of the thing about how this was not intended to be a "who would win?" type of story as much as it was just a tale that tried to better represent the characters as they were in the original source material while also celebrating them and addressing my own issues regarding the battle, there were SEVERAL commenters who still moaned about how I was a fanboy that essentially should've been crucified because apparently, I made characters look weak, thus completely missing the intention I had going into it and what was explained quite clearly in the story itself.**

 **And since the situation on here is a little similar but on a smaller scale, I thought I would just ignore it and move on but since that turned out to not be the case, I feel that for just this once, I'm going to explain it all once more in an addendum that I may or may not delete after a certain amount of time has passed.  
**

 **This is meant to replicate the style of the ORIGINAL Star Wars trilogy and the most recent movie, The Force Awakens with far more drama due to the subject matter at hand with the story it's crossing over with.**

 **Because of this, I've intentionally left certain details out as to build up a sense of mystery and with the explanations I made in the story already, I thought that some people would at the very least "get it" but after receiving comments that seem more concerned with what EU character I forgot or how the First Order seems to be tactically stupid without considering how the person in charge is an unstable maniac who's nowhere near as cold and calculating as Vader and the conversations with Hux that acknowledge this, I feel that it's only necessary I ask this.**

 **Does it affect your overall experience? Have you seen others complain about this beforehand? If the answer to that is just a long pause of silence or just a simple no then please, I ask of you.  
**

 **If you have a nitpick or criticism regarding grammar, pacing or little quirks such as excessive amounts of block words, I encourage you all to simply just talk about it. However, if it's mostly just going to be a complaint that essentially revolves around how I don't include enough fanservice like Plagueis or anything like that then I highly encourage you to try and rethink what exactly you're focusing on.**

 **If you do post it anyway, there's no stopping you obviously but hey, a little thought never killed anyone did it?**

 **With that said, I apologize to those who may feel offended or if this got too aggressive, this was just something I wanted to bring up. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will see you on the next one.**


	17. Chapter 17

( _Imperial Capital_ )

"I have a better idea..."

Having kept his communicator by his face for just a few seconds longer than usual, Hux was able to catch this little snippet which most likely was never intended for his ears and overall, he found himself feeling uneasy... as well as anxious. There wasn't really any guess in his mind as to why this was but if he really had to try and deduce something at that exact moment, it most likely was due to what he has heard about his Stormtroopers many, MANY times in the past by officers, captains and even Supreme Leader Snoke himself.

When he was first brought aboard the Galactic Empire during its final days, one of Hux's many suggestions on how to improve the group was to aim for a complete overhaul of the training methods used for the main infantry since as he said himself, they knew how to kill... and nothing else.

While he had only the utmost respect for the mastermind behind it all, the late great Emperor Palpatine, his apprentice Lord Vader along with the several other staff members who helped to lead the Empire into the age of greatness it had such as Tarkin, he would've been completely lying if he said that they were completely flawless as he found that in some cases for the few flaws they had, those few were FAR worse than what Kylo had accomplished with one of the most massive screw-ups being with how the Stormtroopers were conducted which became especially noticeable once the last of the original Clone Troopers which included the tough as nails and extremely valuable CC-2224, died off due to their accelerated aging.

First and foremost, the focus was just completely misguided. While the mentality that was being instilled was mainly about the "survival of the fittest" which was alright as the First Order continued to use it as well, it was due to the staggeringly low amount of focus being put on teamwork and environment adaptation which was commonly left to the specialized units in favor of focusing on competition, something that Hux assumed was partially responsible for CC-2224's frustration as in the journals he left behind, he recorded how more often than not, he'd witness cadets get into full-on brawls over the most trivial of matters such as the amount of targets that were shot down at practice.

Not only that but with the exception of at least a few stations on various capital worlds of the Empire, the training was extremely poor as well. To put it into perspective, the original 501st required that every single one of its troopers had perfect scores in their training in order to join their ranks and had to be personally overseen and approved by Palpatine himself whereas the reincarnation of the group that came in the form of "Vader's Fist" had essentially took on a mentality of you had to be "good enough" to be let on with the commanders only being strict if you dared to slack or disregard orders in plain sight. This unfortunate chain of events led to several slackers/cannon fodder being let on to spearhead what was supposed to be the most feared fighting force in the entire galaxy and they most certainly paid the price in what came afterward with troopers often being reported as having bumped their heads on blast doors during both real combat and maneuvers, slipping and falling to their death in the case of worlds such as Kamino and probably most embarrassing of all, the news that came out about a trooper on Kashyyyk who had dropped their blaster after being easily outsmarted by a smuggler only to have their stupidity be their cause of death when they tripped over the tool and FELL to the ground below.

And finally what would go onto be known as the Empire's biggest mistake, to the point where even those such as Lord Vader commented on it was the focus on sheer quantity over quality and unlike the previous issues where at the very least there was more than enough to cover it up, this one in particular stuck out like the vandalized TIE fighters that various Imperial agents recorded on worlds such as Lothal. The TIEs were glass cannons, their weapons were dangerous and the screech was feared but they were so unbelievably ill-prepared that one would often wonder if the ships were simply the skeleton of something far more dangerous that was used only to conserve budget.

Unfortunately, the lack of durable armor and shields weren't just what plagued the Stormtroopers of yesteryear, it also extended all the way down to the armor of the infantry themselves.

The armor designs themselves weren't all that awful of course, they were designed to evoke fear into the heart of the galaxy and were a natural evolution of the Phase 2 armor that the Clone Troopers wore. They were easy to maneuver in, intimidating and with some of the truthfully outstanding soldiers such as Katarn AKA TK-295, 17786 and JJR-579, they were able to make it appear as though the armor itself had no fault as their skills were so refined, they were able to work around the limitations with extreme ease.

For everyone else on the other hand, these were the only positives they could really provide and as for the negatives, just about everyone with the Galactic Empire had heard it all before. The armor itself provided little to no protection against the most basic of blaster-fire and when combined with the already established poor focus in training, it was not rare to see literally HUNDREDS of troopers being mowed down with ease and usually by ten per minute. Not only that but unlike those who as mentioned earlier, were able to work through the limitations to pull off some truthfully jaw-dropping feats, the rest on the other hand simply were not.

"The rookies are all whining about not being able to see. Funny when considering back then, the fear was more about getting shot." Was what one of CC-2224's journals had said regarding the subject. Even in the early days of the Clone Wars, the armor developed for both the Clone Troopers and Stormtroopers were infamous for providing an extremely limited view with their rather thin visors. Peripheral was nearly impossible to rely on, the visors themselves were already tinted to a point where unless you activated a night-vision feature, darker environments such as Dathomir were nearly impossible to traverse through and finally, the bucket would often jostle around with ease which sometimes made it even more difficult to contend with and often times lead to several missed shots by even the most elite of soldiers which was especially laughed at by the rebels and the remaining clones who commented on how their training put a lot of emphasis on training reflexes and other senses in order to counter the inherent flaws with the armor and since the Empire again, did not have the best training regiment around and when combined with how rough the experienced clone veterans tended to be with them which led to low morale, it was almost saddening to think that while everything was successful, the age of the Galactic Empire ended up having several flaws with many of them being from what he could tell, almost the EXACT same as the Empire on Earth.

With this in mind, one could imagine the massive amount of relief and surprise that flushed over the general when Snoke actually agreed with all of his complaints and allowed him to make the extensive changes necessary for the First Order to truthfully flourish which it most certainly did, especially with Phasma at the helm which showed when the first thing they started on was the armor, infantry and ships.

While the TIE fighters still weren't quite the most durable, their armor was still given quite the upgrade in order to last against heavier assaults both by regular infantry and turrets. Not only that but with the various specialized variants they had in store which included a two-seater that had a rear turret for Special Forces units and most recently, they'd started to put both the TIE interceptors and bombers back into production along with another variant that was to have a hyperdrive installed into it and if all went well, they hoped that it would serve as a replacement to the original in order to contend with the Resistance's X-Wings and recently reintroduced Y-Wings.

The Finalizer of course needed no more to be said about it but as far as the armor and infantry were concerned, they were LEAGUES above what the Empire had. Gone were the days of over a hundred slackers being mowed down due to fools allowing them to serve without proper discipline and instead, they opted for a force that was smaller but far more devastating with the results leading to Hux stating that just one First Order Stormtrooper was worth over twenty regular troops from the Galactic Empire.

The ones they chose were extremely ruthless and loyal to the cause. They were the kind of troopers who would take responsibility even when the offense itself was minor or they weren't the cause and as for their skills in keeping fellow squad-mates in line, it was far greater as now, troopers actually were reprimanded for any offense they made whether it be inappropriate gestures, purposeful cases of disorder or what was quite possibly the most severe out of all of them, possible showcases of nonconformity and with the still fairly recent betrayal of FN-2187 being widely known, the punishments only got far more severe and while it did leave some complaining, it got the job done far better than whatever the Empire could do.

As for the training, while it still retained the whole "survival of the fittest" idea, it also chose to focus on a system that relied on actually helping the strong and adapting to the environment which was such a massive improvement when considering that back then, the only troopers that seemed to be worth anything were either Vader's Fist, the surviving clone veterans or those that personally served the Emperor such as the Royal Guards.

Speaking of the Royal Guards, one of the many aspects that Hux never could wrap his head around about the Empire was how they were the only ones who seemed to be trained in the art of melee combat and from what he heard, they apparently were strong enough to take on one Jedi known as Galen Marek, a name that he didn't recognize in any way and honestly couldn't be bothered to care about. Regardless, the idea that the Emperor would let his personal protectors who went on few missions and were more often just meant to stand by and keep their guard up when they could also be used to hunt Jedi with some even possessing a small degree of Force sensitivity did nothing but drive the general mad with questions.

So once Snoke announced he wasn't in need of any sort of Royal Guards, Hux immediately set in place that all Stormtroopers, no matter what their position or specialization, had to be trained in ALL forms of weaponry which included those such as the vicious Z6 riot control baton and the fast, deadly FWMB-10 repeating blaster or as it was more commonly known as, the megablaster which proved to be one of the smartest decisions he had ever made in his life and when combined with the changes made to the armor which more or less amounted to just better durability and maneuverability with the sacrifice that was made being to remove certain specialized features in the helmets which were now being added back in, it made even just a single trooper an actual force to be reckoned with. Overall, the general's work in putting the First Order on the map worked extremely well as they now were being feared across the galaxy once again.

Though perhaps it has worked a bit too well as a certain few cases would suggest especially in regards to taking matters into their own hands.

With the work that went into teaching the soldiers about adaptation to the environment, it was also heavily emphasized that they had to be as brutal and unforgiving as humanly possible and with this came the new rule that all troopers must wear their helmets and combat gear at all times which was made as to keep the First Order's image of being a no-nonsense military intact which meant that if need be, soldiers were allowed to take matters into their own hands which they did... with varying results.

On most occasions, it proved to be extremely effective such as the time FN-2199 took the moment to break a Resistance spy's spine before bringing them back for interrogation, granted it meant they couldn't move but since they still had the ability to speak, it meant that the job was going to be a lot easier as there was obviously going to be no chance of them trying to fight back. Another moment it proved useful was when instead of trying to reason with the Gungans after they continuously refused to bow down, the troops without being told to simply opened fire and proceeded to wipe just about every member of the species off the face of the Earth including the Empire supporter turned rebel sympathizer, Boss Binks and with that, the retaking of Theed as well as the entire planet of Naboo in general became as simple as keeping away from a Sarlacc.

On the other hand, it also led to some of the most embarrassing failures that weren't brought on by Kylo Ren and his impatience such as the failed negotiations with a band of pirates on Florrum which were mercilessly shot down due to one soldier having an unfortunate case of racism towards Weequay which led to him being promptly booted from the group though what was arguably the most embarrassing was the total mess that was the negotiations on Cato Neimoidia where a plan for peaceful negotiation and an alliance all went down in flames when the troopers got more than a little too aggressive with the Neimoidians and ended up massacring most of them in that room.

However, that was only a quarter of it all as he could still recall in great detail the horror stories that various generals and admirals shared about how Stormtroopers decided they had a "better" idea and it ended up leading to some massive issues, leaving Hux only to hope for the worst, especially at that very moment when the still noticeably inebriated Honest stood up with the two troopers who were assigned to get the Emperor slowly entering the room in a way that seemed very conspicuous, to the point where he was just lucky to know that the fat man was just an idiot.

"I think it's time I get some shut-eye." The prime minister yawned, stopping for a moment to straighten out his back to which Hux tried his hardest to respond with as much inconspicuousness as he could.

"Indeed." Seeing his chance, he shot a glare at the troopers, mouthing to them a question about what they did with their answer being a bunch of hand gestures that signaled to something that sounded like it came straight from a horror film. Before he could lose his cool, he found himself being pleased at how Honest cut in with a small offer.

"Why don't you come walk with me general?" The man turned to see that the fat one had already started making his way out the door. "I'm sure you don't want this alliance to end with you being the cause of my death now would you?" With a degree of falseness as well as realization that the plan had changed, Hux shook his head.

"It would be an... honor." The prime minister grinned, obviously paying no mind to the general nearly vomiting upon trying to get the last word out. With that, the man began to make his way into the dark hallways with Hux following very closely, his only movements being to tell the troopers to stay back feeling that they had done more than enough to "assist" him. A couple minutes went by and already the walk was making the general feel both anxious and bored, the only sound that echoed throughout being moans coming from down the hall which would've had the general assuming that some more... risque options might've been taking place as it was unavoidable for young men like him only to then hear what appeared to be simple utterances of "No." and "Stay away!", signaling that someone was having a nightmare or worse.

Though if he had to be honest, he would most certainly take that over the insufferable voice of the fat man any day.

"So general, what do you think of the Empire so far?" Honest asked, breaking Hux's concentration.

"It's impressive," Despite being focused with trying to hide his frustration, the general still took the time to look around in awe at what the Empire had accomplished. "most impressive." It was odd to say the least for the general. By all accounts, he should've been completely thrilled with how everything was constructed or at the very least, he should've been giving them props with how they had a team who actually could fight with Imperial Arms and how well they were trained.

The only problem was just the fat man himself who let out a small chuckle seconds later.

"That's certainly not the first time I heard that one, though I must admit the First Order is quite the skilled bunch. It's just a shame I'm not the one leading it." The general rolled his eyes.

"If you were the one leading it, I bet the troopers would've either turned out weak or they would've shot you dead." Hux silently thought as the two continued their trek.

"I also have to say, your weapons are impressive. Tell me, where were these things manufactured? Are they Imperial Arms?"

"I can only say that they're not Imperial Arms." Hux said with a chuckle. "The rest is strictly classified."

"I figured about as much, I just wanted to make sure." Nodding in agreement, the general turned his attention back towards the front and just kept walking, hoping that he could continue the rest of the trip in silence though of course, Honest wouldn't let him since in mere seconds, he started up once more.

"You want to know what impresses me about you General Hux?"

"I usually don't bother but I have time to kill so go ahead and tell me." Hux replied, trying his hardest to keep from laughing at the idea of praises from the fat man actually meaning something to him.

"It's the severe contrast between us." Raising an eyebrow, Hux made his way to Honest's side and met his gaze.

"And what would that be?" Grinning, the man continued onward.

"Well... just look at me first. You're a strapping young man with a full life ahead of them, I'm an old, portly figure who often prefers to hang back by the sidelines, using the influence I have to pull all the strings that are necessary to pull and with that combined with my leadership skills, I was able to take the lowly capital and drive it into a time of peace and prosperity, like Apollo taking his chariot up into the sky except unlike him, we didn't bog ourselves down with lovers. Instead, we sought to achieve peace by wiping out all who opposed us for the supposed reason of wanting justice."

"With all due respect, that fits better with the First Order than it does you." Hux said aloud, his hand slowly lowering to wrap his fingers around his pistol which Honest either didn't notice or couldn't be bothered to care and instead he seemed to put more effort in keeping his grin.

"I thought you would say something like that." The prime minister replied with a sigh. "I'm sure it's also due to the existence of the Revolutionary Army, well to be fair, they are currently being run by a warrior who actually worked for us beforehand, a woman by the name of Najenda who used to work with General Esdeath."

"Esdeath had a partner?" Hux asked, causing the man's eyebrow to raise.

"You knew her?" Realizing what he did, Hux used whatever came into mind, knowing that most likely, the idiot would fall for it.

"I know her through talks with you and the other soldiers," Hux replied. "though I was never told she had an accomplice." As expected, the fatso's smile returned and he continued on.

"Yes well, the two were quite the dangerous pair, they were the main instruments in some of our greatest successes."

"What happened to cause her to change sides?"

"Oh it's something I'm sure you've had to deal with once in a while. She became disillusioned with the path we were taking and decided that instead of remaining with us to see where this wonderful journey would lead us, she was just going to abandon us all and instead start up a little club in order to supposedly undo all of the 'corruption' that has been flowing around here. If you ask me, I personally think she's just wanting the power all to yourself wouldn't you agree?"

"I'd rather see this Najenda in action first before I come to any conclusion." Right at that moment, the two had finally reached the door to Honest's royal bedroom and in just a few seconds, a foul stench had come to strike the general hard in the nostrils which at first, he had assumed that it was coming from Honest when he remembered that he had already become desensitized to it all and that it had a different aroma to it. This smell on the other hand, was raw, strong and extremely potent.

Almost like that of a corpse.

"A smart move." Honest replied, seemingly ignoring the smell as he wrapped his mitts around the knob. "Well I hope you'll be fine resting with me for the night."

"Trust me, I will." Hux replied, his attention slowly shifting to what looked to be the lower body of a child with the rest slowly being revealed as the door continued to open.

"We'll see about th-MAKOTO!" The prime minister froze in place, his face filled with pure horror while Hux's was present with disgust as he realized exactly what the troopers had done.

Laying haphazardly across the satin mattress was the freshly killed, child-sized corpse of the Emperor who for being one that was "discreetly" disposed of, the body certainly didn't resemble it.

The neck was twisted at a disturbingly sharp angle, the lifeless face being left to stare directly at them while a single piece of broken collarbone poked through the flesh, the wound still dripping with fresh blood. All throughout the body had several bruises and cuts with each of them dripping as well with varying degrees of severity with some looking as though it went down to the bone like the troopers just kept stabbing away with a vibroblade or whatever sharp object they could get their hands on which he assumed was the jagged piece of wood that lay right by the feet as it was completely drenched in red and there seemed to be a small portion of the exact same size missing from the drawer to the side of it. At first glance, Hux was reminded somewhat of the images he viewed regarding the infamous "Project Blackwing" which showcased corpses with several different degrees with damage with many looking exactly like how Makoto did.

Though judging by the murder weapon and how it was so blatantly out in the open, it was almost as though the troopers wanted to rough the body up so much that it looked as though he was attacked either by one of those assassins the posters around town talked about, a rogue Imperial or possibly, they just wanted to suggest that the boy took his own life which if Hux had to be honest, was a wonderful tactic as then, they could launch the Empire out into an open field, claiming that they spotted assassins running off into the woods where they would then give chase, only to discover that there were no enemies are afoot and before they'd realize it, Honest would be able to be killed and they could take control right then and there and if that was the case, the troopers were definitely smarter than what they gave them credit for... though there was one "small" problem.

All along the body, there were several circular wounds and inside those was a combination of boiling and dried blood along with charred bone. All telltale signs that pointed towards the use of a blaster and since the prime minister knew of what they wielded, he knew it only could end badly once his seemingly genuine sorrow left him.

"Your highness! What beast could've done this to you?!" Quickly, Hux locked the door as silently as he could, watching as the old man cradled the rotting corpse, much to his disgust.

"I should've known there was a traitor among our ranks and from the looks of it, I think I know who to blame!" Taking a moment to flick the safety off, the general slowly drew his pistol, making sure that the barrel was perfectly centered with the old fool's puny ankles.

"Mark my words your lordship, I will make sure that Budo and Seryu both suffer as much, possibly even GREATER than what you went th-AGH!" In just a few seconds, the fat man had gone from cradling the body of his puppet with fury and tears in his eyes, to dropping to his knees as a red hot burst of pain came exploding quite literally in his ankles. Without a single hint of emotion, Hux watched as the prime minister frantically rolled himself over, his face lighting up with terror as soon as he noticed his ankle which was just barely able to stay attached to his leg from a single thin tendon and as the exposed bits touched the ground, fresh blood poured as the near unbearable sting caused the man to tear up with agony.

"My apologies." Hux said coldly, keeping his weapon level with Honest's face. "I forgot you were even there, I thought you were the traitor." Seeing as how the wound was a similar but far more severe version of what Makoto suffered through, the prime minister's face twisted with shock and anger.

"So soon?" He asked. "Even after you promised that we would take them down tog-NGH!"

"You really are dumber than I thought." The general responded, not paying a single bit of attention to the severed foot on the floor. "If I had a choice between being gutted and having my remains fed to wild animals or ruling alongside someone as disgusting and pitiful such as you, I'd choose the former in a heartbeat." The fat man's face flared up with rage.

"You dare to speak to royalty like that?"

"If they are fools who can't fight then YES!" With that last word, the general walked up and with one brutal motion, he slammed the butt of his blaster into the fat man's face, reveling in the sound of cheekbones crunching and blood splattering as his body collapsed onto the polished floors. "I do dare." After a few seconds of coughing up blood, the old man tried to force himself up in spite of how his arms shook, signifying that he couldn't hold up his own weight. Realizing what was going on, the general immediately aimed towards the man's other leg and quickly unloaded two shots into the flesh, causing the foot and bone to break free with blood rapidly gushing from the wound right as he let out another scream.

"Resistance is futile, there is no point in trying if you're already so outmatched." Out of defiance, the old man once again tried to force himself up, much to Hux's admitted delight as now, he directed the blaster towards his arms and with deadly accuracy, he unloaded the blasts into them were they gave just like the legs, leaving him facedown on the floor, trying desperately to wriggle away from the bed. Watching him until he was at least a little further with the blood making a neat trail, the general walked up and with all his might, he thrust his foot forward, his shiny black boot crashed into Honest's face with such incredible force, flipping him over on his back to where Hux could see the clearly broken nose and bloodied mouth.

"Such a pity I had to stain my boots with your blood." Hux noted coldly, holstering his weapon as he proceeded to slowly pace around the man. "Because no matter how cleansed they are, they're forever tainted just by having to touch you."

"W-Why?" Honest asked meekly.

"Why? Oh Honest, don't try to make me laugh. It was obvious from the very beginning that your rule was going to crumble at any moment, I just decided to spare the Force the hassle."

"H-How could you, I-I'm prime mini-"

"And you shamed that title." Hux cut in, casually kicking the fat man in the teeth right as he did so. "Tell me, what was going through your head when you first joined up? Did you believe that you could predict this? Did you believe that you could be my equal in intellect and as a ruler?"

"I-I thought you be-beli-AGH!"

"It's worse than I thought," Hux began, taking a moment to kick the loose blood off his boot, "you actually believed we were intellectual equals?! It only took me seconds to get you off your guard and yet you believed that you had my intellect?!" Before Honest could answer, Hux looked down towards the bloodied mess his legs had become and with all his might, he stomped down onto the exposed bone, the sheer force of his boot SHATTERING it, causing the man to let out a cry of agony. "Judging by how you're acting now, I can already tell that was a complete lie. Just the fact you can't even accept reality with some dignity really goes to show just how pathetic you are." His rage quickly rising, Honest looked up towards his assailant with a face full of vitriol.

"You'll pay for this treachery! Any moment now, my Jaegers will come to my resc-AGH!"

"How typical of someone as worthless as you, you're not capable of defending yourself in any way, thus forcing you to put on a cheap facade in the vain hope that it would work." Setting his hands behind his back, the general made his way around Honest until he was just inches from his face, the tip of his boot only slightly pressing down on his gray hair as he lifted his leg up and proceeded to rest it on the man's face which was strained with pain as he began to lightly press down.

"You've never had true power. Neither did the emperor. You only kept him believing that by constantly feeding him, keeping him warm, like he was your son but sooner or later, you were going to kill him and that would be the end of it all. We should've had a couple of people like you along, shouldn't we? Soft, pitiful fat ones like you. We'd have perfect easy target practice for an army that you couldn't even begin to comprehend the size of and soon we'll have new recruits and if they don't comply and bow down, we'll be happy to force them to and unlike you, they won't be doing so out of pity but out of fear. True unwavering fear that you never had been able to instill into anyone. But of course, like a fool, you believed yourself to be this big strong man who could take the reigns of a massive empire when in reality you are nothing but a boy. A sad, scared, stupid little boy who has never experienced a single bit of discipline in his entire life and yet expects those to fear him when clearly, it if it wasn't for the soldiers or connections he had, he would've been dead long ago." The prime minister tried his hardest to speak, only to find it impossible once the general's pressed down even more, crushing his nose almost completely.

"It's a miracle to see just how much you've been blessed with abilities that few men possess, abilities that men like you don't deserve. You were blessed to rule a mighty empire with countless soldiers at your command, ready to serve your every will and weapons that could tear through whole armies that anyone could use which explains why even YOU of all people had one which I knew I just couldn't have." Eyes widening in shock, the old man's gaze sauntered over towards the general's hand which was dangling down by the hip for just long enough for him to see a small golden ring, his ring, resting rather neatly on his gloved finger. Noticing this, Hux once again applied more pressure, the old man's tear-filled eyes immediately darting back towards his gaze.

"You have all the power in the world and what have you done with that? You served as nothing but a raving mad drunk who should've been locked away in an asylum. You are a disgusting ball of filth that is forever tainted with a scent so foul that the entire galaxy can smell you. You're no emperor, you're no prime minister, you are nothing but revolting, wretched filth that I can't believe is allowed to exist in the same room much less the same universe as me."

"I hate yo-"

"You hate the fact that you're powerless to stop me, that you're completely outmatched. Had you truthfully despised me, you would've had your soldiers wipe me and my troops out in an instant but sure enough, it was your thick ego that prevented you from doing so as you wanted to see if you could truthfully earn the trust of the First Order. I bet you never imagined that I would actually come out on top now would I?" With a low grumble, Honest opened his mouth, ready to throw out a retort when he found it staying open upon spotting the boot raising up, signaling to him that it was all over and that he needed to just suck it up and accept it.

"In the end, it was all because I was a conqueror while you. You're not even worth it to be the dirt in my boots." In just a blink of an eye, the general slammed his foot down and just like that, the bag of flesh's face caved in with blood, shards of bone and even an eyeball splattered out onto the floor below, making quite the mess, a mess that Hux knew would never wash out so with that in mind and without giving the corpse as much as a second glance, he stopped to wash his feet at the door before proceeding to make his way out, his face not possessing any sort of emotion whatsoever, even as he held out his holo-communicator which sprang to life with the blue figure of Kylo Ren.

"The prime minister is finished, you may proceed with your plan."

* * *

( _Finalizer_ )

"Nines, buddy? We're like, ready to g-" Looking into the doorway, Mez stopped herself right as she spotted her partner, expecting him to be training or at the very least polishing weapons only to receive a sight that was slightly more... personal it seemed.

Sitting at the edge of his bed, not paying the warrior a single hint of attention, Nines gazed down at a black and white photograph and one that had been at the forefront of all his memories ever since FN-2187's betrayal. Slowly and carefully, the woman crept her way inside and sat down, taking a moment to examine the picture.

"Those your friends?" Noticing his partner had entered the room, the trooper couldn't even be bothered to get worked up and instead let out a sigh.

"The correct way to say it is that they were my friends." The photo was a group shot with Stormtroopers standing all around a wide expansive room with Captain Phasma standing tall and proud at the side of it though Mez had to admit, there was just something about her that seemed off when compared to the rest, like as though she was digitally added to the scene and just wasn't matching up with everything else and after a few seconds, the realization hit her.

With the exception of Phasma, every trooper of which there were at least eight present in the picture were all helmetless though their expressions nevertheless were as stony and serious as one would've expected from men such as these. Down at the bottom, there was also small white text that listed off seemingly in the order of how the troopers were positioned, the identities of everyone which was filled with designations she didn't recognize such as FN-2000, FN-2003 and FN-6776.

Though there was one in particular that stood out among the rest aside from Nines's name and that was the name in the dead center of it all, perfectly matched up with the serious but gentle looking dark skinned trooper, was the name FN-2187. At long last, she was able to get a good look at the trooper who had left the man scarred for so long.

"Is that him?" Mez asked, her finger pointing towards the man. "Is that your best friend?"

"FORMER best friend." Nines corrected, sounding rather pained. "And yes, that is him and over to the side is Slip, Zeroes, Seven-Six and Eight-One." Noticing that he didn't even bother with any sort of insult or jab, the girl couldn't help but point it out.

"You're not even going to bother telling me that it's classified or anything like that?" The trooper shook his head as he set the picture down.

"I see no point, after all you know it now so why bother?" A form of uneasy silence filled the quarters with the woman in particular feeling as the air started to get to her, almost as though the portrait reminded her of something a bit more... personal. Regardless, she continued on.

"Can you tell me what they were like?" Somewhat surprised, FN-2199 shifted his gaze towards the girl.

"Why should I tell you when I know you can't take things seriou-"

"Because I feel that I can relate." Mez interjected. "Nines, it's alright, I just want to know." The trooper just stared at her for what felt like an eternity, his face not being able to shake the shock over how for once in her entire life, the warrior seemed to be taking something seriously though honestly, he couldn't quite bring himself to be happy about it. What he could manage was a look of curiosity though of course, it wasn't able to be seen due to the brand new helmet he was lent by Phasma and with that, the visor once again blocked all trace of expression. With that in mind and after a few more seconds, the trooper let out a sigh.

"We were some of the finest troopers ever brought into the First Order," Nines began. "some of the freshest faces to ever grace the group's viewfinders and I guess because of that along with how we all came in together, Phasma wanted us to work together as well though mostly, I think it was because we could all relate due to our upbringings."

"In other words you were all kidnapped?" Nines shook his head.

"Actually, I was the only one who was different. I actually was able to live with my family as they followed the Galactic Empire and First Order almost RELIGIOUSLY so because of that, I was already being taught about how to respect them from the very beginning until I was at least five years old where they then willingly gave me away." Despite how shocking the whole thing sounded about how the parents would even dare to do that, Mez couldn't help but mutter to herself.

"At least you had a family."

"What was that?" Realizing exactly what she said, the woman just shook her head.

"Don't mind me, I'll tell you when you finish alright?" Despite how rushed her reply seemed to be, the trooper just shrugged his shoulders and moved on.

"The other guys, they were taken from their families but we were all the same when we walked in, just a bunch of teens looking to serve the galaxy with pride and fight any injustice that we could. Of course, me being one of the few to come from a family who taught me from the very beginning about the importance of things such as loyalty and combat, I was able to advance at a far faster rate than the rest of my classmates so naturally, they looked up to me for guidance." Setting his head against his hand, Nines couldn't help but smile to himself.

"I can see it as clear as day every time I think of it. As stated before, we were all the same age though as you could tell, we didn't look the same nor did we act the same. Probably the most humorous of all them was Zeroes, the man had that because not only was his designation FN-2000 but on a lot of his early test results, he received straight zeroes which was aggravating him quite a bit as he was taught that joining the First Order was and always should be his life goal but they wouldn't take failing students so more often than not, he took his frustrations out on the others who honestly, were some of the finest men I'd ever worked with. There was Slip who wasn't great by any means and had the nickname because he'd often slip up during training sessions no matter how simple but his heart was in the right place and the determination he showed was almost infectious..."

"And then there was Eight-Seven right?" Nines nodded.

"Eight-Seven was the most shocking to all of us. Back when we first laid eyes on the man, we thought he was going to be the absolute worst, that his skills weren't going to compare to even the droppings of a Bantha."

"What changed your perception?"

"His test scores. Out of all of us, he scored the highest percentages that the First Order had never seen before in its entire life and overall, proved to be one of the best soldiers that we ever had. The way he adapted on the battlefield, how he moved from target to target with such fluidity and haste, the way he was able to almost always get in a kill on the very first shot, he was just incredible."

"Even better than you?"

"He wasn't just better than me, he outperformed ALL of us. There was one particular training session I remember where we were all lined up, ready to go through some short rounds of melee combat, to test what we had learned. He was able to beat Zeroes, Slip and me all in go and this was in spite of how fatigued he was getting. Afterward, Zeroes was of course angry as usual which is odd considering how fidgety he is these days as an officer but moving on, him, Slip and I were quite possibly the most inseparable trio one could've ever seen which even went as far as to impress Captain Phasma. Before training sessions, we just shared a natural camaraderie, a unbreakable bond and when we recited the oath of our group, we made a promise to one another that we were all going to stay and fight no matter what..." Right then and there, Nines's heart sank and his tone went back to sounding depressed. "I should've known that there was no way to not break that." Setting a caring hand on the man's back, Mez looked into his eyes.

"What happened?" Stopping to see if the door was closed, Nines took in a nice long breath as he grabbed hold of his bucket, a low hiss going off a few seconds later as his natural face was revealed, looking as though it was completely drenched in sweat with the beads only continuing to drop even after he set the dome down beside him.

"Jakku happened." Nines began. "Due to Eight-Seven's issues with... compassion which especially showed with how he kept having to help Slip along in combat simulations, Captain Phasma assigned us with the task of accompanying her and Commander Ren to Jakku in order to obtain the map to the last Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and while she did tell us it was due to our scores, in reality, it was her way of trying to force some brutality out of him."

"And what happened on Jakku?"

"Well..." The trooper stopped, taking a moment to rub away a single tear that was threatening to start trickling down. "it didn't work... and we lost Slip to the villagers and from that point on, something changed inside Eight-Seven and when we were back on the Destroyer, he came into the room, saying how Ren wanted the prisoner we took in and then... he just took off... and I didn't see him until we got to Takodana where I had to watch as he stabbed one of my teammates in the heart." Slowly but surely, Mez watched with surprise as Nines's eyes... actually started watering with his voice starting to sound slightly crackly which convinced the girl to start increasing the pace of her back-rubs. "I've tried to forget about it as did Zeroes and it seemed as though the team tried to forget about it with their replacement for Eight-Seven being Seven-Six. Poor guy, there was just no way he could've known, he had no idea how painful it was."

"What do you mean?" Taking in a nice long breath, Nines brushed the back of his hand against his face once more.

"He had no idea how it felt to have to see your best friend, your brother in arms, the one who you've trained and fought with for several days and made a promise with on the opposite side where you can do nothing but shout out about how he was a traitor. You can't possibly begin to understand the pain of having to lose your two best friends all to the raging beast of warfare." That was the big moment when Mez finally spoke up.

"Actually, I can relate." Nines shot her a look to which she gave a quick nod before letting her gaze droop downward, indicating to the trooper that it was true. Motioning for her to go on, the woman took a moment to take in a deep breath.

"When I was first brought into the Empire, I had no friends." She began. "Suzuka, Ibarra, Sten, they all were my partners but never would I be caught dead considering one of them my allies and the same went for the rest of the recruits present... except for one."

"Who were they?" Mez stopped to take in another deep breath.

"The boy's name was Tie and he was one of the only people who out of the entire group, was the MOST normal. Of course at first, we didn't exactly see eye-to-eye and sometimes fought with one another but that quickly gave way to one of the most inseparable bonds there was and quite possibly one of the most dangerous teams to ever grace the Empire's eyes. We did everything we could, we looked out for one another, we played together on our breaks, we were just the greatest of friends... until the final day we proved ourselves."

"What happened there?" Now it was Mez's turn to start sniffling and tearing up.

"You see, for our final training exercise, we were thrown out into the wilderness and were forced to contend with a Danger Beast who we had no choice but to fight against." Nines's eyes widened with shock, even his training wasn't that brutal. "And during one moment, I was brought down, the beast was ready to chomp down when Tie jumped into save me and then... and then..." Realizing exactly what was going to happen, Nines's world just turned upside down. All the times he spent bothering her about being more serious, all the times he spent harming her and stating how she needed to be more loyal.

This was all said unknowingly to a girl who understood him far more than the others did.

Right before the girl could break down, the trooper in a loyal move, wrapped his arms around her, burying her face into his armor which was currently being drenched with tears but he didn't care and for the next several minutes, he continued to hold her just like that while occasionally repeating a simple piece of advice.

"A good soldier lets it all out. Don't bottle it up, just let the pain wash away."


	18. Chapter 18

( _Imperial Capital_ )

With it being the very first day of living with the Empire without Honest, Hux felt a massive wave of relief wash over him the moment he walked out onto the nice grassy fields, taking in the pale cloudy skies and fresh clean air with every step he took. In fact, upon first coming to his spot, he couldn't help but take a nice long, relaxing breath and feel as the air didn't make him want to hurl or shoot himself and instead, allowed him to revel in the fact that he was still alive and well, leading the First Order into a battle that, while he never wanted to take part in it in the first place, he was still going to give it his all in commanding his forces and try to enjoy his time.

Which proved to be far more difficult soon after he found yet another reason to dislike the planet and it was something that was expected but nevertheless disappointing and that was just how pitiful the humans of the planet were.

Being a member of the Empire who had been in service for several years, having to deal with many different armies and situations, he had quickly found himself enjoying the idea of a good challenge, a challenge that the Resistance thankfully provided. While he still of course found himself despising every bit of their guts, there was just something about the rush he got from being on both the winning and losing sides of the conflict that became an object of his fascination which was a mystery even to him.

Was it how they were able to use old technology in new effective ways against the new tech? Was it their penchant for guerrilla warfare? Was it just the simple fact that a group that has almost ZERO funding and very few soldiers actually was able to put up a decent fight against them when they were also still growing? All these questions and more flew through his head at a pace much faster than his tactically capable mind could calculate and has been going like this for over three years now with still no answer in sight.

Earth on the other hand? The question about if it was as worthy of an opponent as the Resistance was answered from the very moment they ransacked that first village with a simple, two-letter word that everyone and their mother was quite familiar with. To him, the forces of planet Earth were about as effective and capable as the womp-rats in the Jundland Wastes though that could've been giving them too much credit as at least womp-rats could cause SOME damage to the average foot soldier.

The warriors on planet Earth on the other hand, couldn't even do that properly as those such as the late fat, pathetic Honest showcased that rather than continuously work to keep skills sharpened, they would prefer to just sit back on a throne and let lackeys do the dirty work and heavy-lifting for them while they spent time gorging on a variety of fresh varied meals, wasting themselves away in one truthfully disgusting display and while some may say that he himself was nothing but a lazy sack of flesh, they both wouldn't live long enough to tell about how they said that and Hux would point out how he still had to attend discussions, work out battle strategies and keep a close eye on the Order to make sure that both training exercises were going smoothly and that everything was still running in peak condition. He also made it clear he was entrusted to this duty by Snoke and that unlike Kylo Ren, he was willing to actually take things slow as to avoid any critical failures that could lead to disastrous results.

Speaking of Kylo Ren, the moment the man came to mind Hux looked down to check his watch, his face scrunching up in a frown almost immediately.

"As expected, he's about a half-hour late." The general grumbled, crossing his arms as he continued to wait for the sight of that familiar black shuttle. This was unfortunately a very common practice for the man as for some reason, no matter how early or late the time was set for their meetings, he would ALWAYS be late which had been going on since the very day Starkiller Base was first completed where for some reason, Kylo was absent for the majority of the day which came at the exact same moment that radar inspections were being conducted and unlike the Galactic Empire, it was due to their limited budget at the time that they had to settle for the lowest of the low which was a thin gangling figure whose name he could only recall that it started with an "M" and didn't care to learn the rest. To make matters worse, the very meeting he called him to was an important discussion about the planning for the Finalizer which he unfortunately had to push back due to him not showing up for the entire day up until the very end where judging by the smell of corpses that was radiating off of him, he admitted to killing the technician though he did have his suspicions about the validity of the statement but ever since that day, it seemed as though the man did it to spite him which wouldn't be too far off given just how much they hated one another.

For the next few minutes, the general kept staring up into the pale sky until his eyes strained, going from tapping his foot to whistling every few seconds in an attempt to keep himself occupied which proved to be impossible when considering that he had a meeting to attend to which related to this day's current planned events which was the attack on the Revolutionary Army and with Honest not at the helm anymore, this meant it had to be more than just a simple rousing speech. It had to explain just about EVERY single detail about the old leadership's departure and it had to do so in such a way that would keep the army in the dark while still sounding believable which in this case, made it one of the few occasions where Kylo's strength in the Force and temper would actually prove useful since if one soldier got out of hand and there was no way to fix everything, he could easily force them into submission with a simple gesture. That and he fully intended on Kylo showing those troopers exactly what happens when you force a change of plans through what they called "better ideas".

Though considering how he explained the plan and he still didn't show up, Hux couldn't help but wonder if Kylo took every opportunity such as this to make him suffer.

Finally after what felt like an eternity, Hux watched as a small blurred shape began to make its way through the sky and considering just how tall the wings were, he knew exactly what he was looking at with the gleaming blood red cockpit only giving him further confirmation. Setting his arms behind his back, the general took a moment to make a little bit more room for the ship, his gaze still being locked on the large hunk of metal as it continued to lower itself towards the ground, the whir of energy constantly ringing in his ears. When the landing gear was just inches from the grassy floor, the wings slowly slid down into their landing position right as the doors lowered, revealing two Stormtrooper officers and at the very least the boot of Captain Phasma with Ren most likely being at the front if the cloaked black boots were to be believed though they looked a bit more lanky than normal. The troopers stood to the side as Phasma made her way down along with the cloaked figure who was certainly NOT Kylo Ren.

Not only were the proportions far more feminine than what the man usually had but the uniform was that of a standard issue First Order staff outfit with a cloak laid out over it and of course, there was the dead giveaway as while he couldn't see her hair, he could already tell by the pale complexion who exactly it was.

Though upon giving it a second thought, he found it might actually be better this way.

"My apologies for being late commander." Phasma said as the shuttle took off behind them.

"I was fully expecting Ren to be here, what happened to him?" Hux asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"My master said that he was going to remain on the Destroyer and regroup with us during the battle." The general explained.

"Master?" Seeing Hux's interest peak a little bit, Esdeath nodded.

"I thought you would know already but yes, Kylo has taken me in as his apprentice, this mission is going to be my chance to prove myself to him so that I may earn my Dark Side title." Eyeing the general over, Hux had to admit that he certainly was impressed with how she turned out under the Dark Lord as with how she looked, she certainly resembled that of a tough, no-nonsense First Order general/Dark Force user which led to his next comment.

"Well considering you've already fit yourself right in among us, I'm sure you'll get that title in no time."

"Thank you general." Esdeath said with a nod, leaving Hux to his next question which he asked as they proceeded to walk back towards the back entrance of the capital.

"But what about FN-2199 and that one girl? Are they going to be taking part in this battle?" Phasma nodded.

"The two are to take up reconnaissance duties and are currently being dropped off at a vantage point."

"Reconnaissance?" Hux asked right as they made their way inside the glistening halls.

"It's a bit odd but with his experience, the man has shown himself to be an excellent tracker and scout and considering his other talents, I wanted to give him this as a small test to see if he's worthy of succeeding me as captain." Feeling a bit more informed, Hux turned his attention back towards the front right as his mind went back to his first talks about the trooper and his team. Being the first one to actually come from a family who sympathized with the Order's plight, it wasn't very surprising that the man would later turn out to be such an excellent addition but after hearing of how he essentially was raised from that point on by Phasma herself and has even become one of the only troopers to survive a bowcaster shot, it seemed as though the man was trying his damnedest to surprise him and gain approval.

At some point, he was definitely going to tell him about how much that worked.

"Why did you call us here anyway general?" The former imperial inquired. "I thought it would at least be a few days until I would return here." The general let out a sigh of frustration.

"The plan WAS to wait," He began, pinching the bridge of his nose. "but due to my bodyguards believing that they could make things better by killing the emperor, I was forced to switch gears and had to kill Honest myself." Esdeath's eyes widened.

"You what?"

"Trust me, I was definitely trying my damnedest to save him for you but honestly, you never can be so sure with the Stormtroopers these days."

"Shall I punish them?" Phasma asked, raising her weapon slightly.

"I think we should let our new recruit do that." Hux said shaking his head. "After all, she was the one robbed of the kill."

"Oh I wasn't wanting to kill him." Esdeath said with a smirk. "The man was too pathetic for my time, I was more looking forward to seeing his face when he found out his prized weapon has changed sides." Hux couldn't help but crack a small smile at that moment. He had to admit that at the very least, Kylo was right, Esdeath definitely had the mind for the First Order. Continuing their walk down the hallway, the former imperial couldn't help but notice that the air had certainly gotten far cleaner with Honest's passing in that she could actually breathe for once without having to wretch due to the fat man's odor happening to be sucked up her nostrils.

She also couldn't help but think about what her former team's reaction would be once they found out she was working for the First Order. Would it be that of shock? Acceptance? Fear? Either way, she knew that when she saw it, it was most likely going to bring her plenty of enjoyment. Finally after several seconds, Hux threw his hand out to stop her and Phasma and held out another to open the door.

"We're here and if I were you Esdeath, I would recommend pulling that hood down a bit more in case you want to make the reveal a surprise." Liking the idea, the general with a smile gripped the sides of her cloak and pulled it further down, covering more of her face in shadow right as the doors opened to reveal the emperor's throne room which was completely PACKED with people from both sides.

Stormtroopers, Esdeath's own personal army, imperials, the Jaegers, just about everyone the three could possibly think of were all there, waiting patiently for their announcement and for the most part, everyone seemed to be quite accepting of the whole thing with the three exceptions being the imperials and the two sword users that the general knew from the day before with their faces mainly resembling that of pure concern or fear, as if they didn't want to know what happened. The moment they entered the room, much to his surprise, an orange-haired girl with a small dog-like creature came up to greet the trio.

"Welcome general." She said cheerfully. "We were somewhat concerned about where you've been."

"And who might you be?" Dropping the happiness only for a minute, the girl shifted her attention towards the shining new trooper whose head was cocked to the side. In a act of respect, she immediately gave a salute with her pet doing the same.

"I'm Seryu of the Jaegers. It's an honor to meet you Miss..."

"Captain," Phasma corrected. "I'm Captain Phasma and I only want you to address me as such." Feeling slightly embarrassed, Seryu tilted her head down when the trooper's voice raised into that of a slightly more pleasant tone. "Don't feel ashamed, at the very least you showed me respect."

"Thank you captain." Seryu said relieved, bowing her head.

"Well he at least has one supporter from the Jaegers." Esdeath said mentally and with surprise. Seryu certainly was one she'd expect to respect the First Order but she was more certain that it would come in due time, not immediately. His expression still as serious as ever, the general made his way to the throne where the two troopers who he recognized as FN-1138 and FN-5257, the same troopers who decided that killing the emperor and leaving him sprawled out on the prime minister's bed was a better idea than simply getting rid of the body and since they received a stern talking to earlier, they immediately tensed up the moment he made eye-contact with them. Ignoring their presence, Hux stood in front of the seat with Phasma and Esdeath by his side with Seryu making her way down to her spot. Once everyone was perfectly situated and the room became perfectly silent, the general took a nice deep breath before beginning his piece.

"Before I proceed with the main point of this speech, I just thought I would address something that I'm sure you've all been thinking about and that is the status of your two rulers, Honest and Makoto." Noticing how Hux addressed the two names with pure disdain, Wave couldn't help but feel his heart shake slightly at the tone he took as well as being slightly frightened by the two figures standing by his side with the one in the cloak being especially concerning as the aura felt dark and ominous... but strangely familiar.

However, he didn't have the time to dwell on it since mere seconds later, the general continued on.

"I'm sure this has led to all manners of discussion and various conspiracies about how they might've been replaced by one of our own, possessed or killed and I am here to confirm right now that Prime Minister Honest and Emperor Makoto..." Taking another breath, the general looked all around him at the soldiers who were all eyeing him with anticipation.

"Well, it is with great..." The general stopped himself, trying his hardest to force the last word out. "regret that I'm here to inform you that the two have been murdered by our troopers." The expected gasp of shock came flying out in droves, the only ones who didn't show any care aside from the three at throne being Budo who simply crossed his arms and sighed.

"Serves him right." He mumbled to himself. "Though I do I wish I could've been the one to put him down." As the commotion began to get slightly louder, Hux shot his hand upwards right as his tone changed.

"SILENCE!" The whole room went dead quiet, their gazes becoming that of pure shock. "Don't act like you're surprised or that you're upset, the prime minister and his puppet were pathetic, incapable piles of trash who weren't even fit to run an outhouse!" Before the warriors could start ranting in protest, Hux signaled to his troopers who immediately drew their blasters, leaving the general to continue on.

"We actually did you all a favor as with the emperor's unfortunate demise at the hands of these two idiots!" The two Stormtroopers didn't move or say a thing though deep down, hearing their commander insult them was like a punch to the gut. "I learned from the prime minister that he planned on betraying the Empire and wanted to put Budo and Seryu to death!"

"What?!" Seryu's eyes widened with disbelief as did Budo's though they both had different motives for doing so with the former feeling somewhat betrayed whereas the latter found that there was something about it that, while sounding truthful, seemed a little off. Noticing this, Esdeath took the moment to whisper into Hux's ear before he continued on.

"It is true, in one of our private conversations the first night, the prime minister told me about how the Jaegers were the biggest mistakes of his life and that the two worst offenders were the two warriors whom he was ready to pin the blame on for the emperor's death as he did not know who the actual culprit was! Before this act of treason could happen, I took it upon myself to make sure that he got the exact punishment he deserved and what little remains of him is still on the bottom of my boot!"

"That simply can't be true." Wave whispered. "Honest wasn't a good man sure but he sure wouldn't dare to do that to us don't you think Seryu?" The woman remained silent, her head tilted down towards her open palms. It was expected as she still hadn't completely recovered after what occurred between her and the swordsman but after listening in on her mumbling, he could tell that there was more to it.

"There's injustice even in the Empire? I thought Honest was just doing what was necessary for all of us." After a few seconds, the warrior tightened her fist. "That lying pig, he's lucky that Hux got to him first."

"Furthermore, I was certain that like some of you, he wasn't going to repay me in loyalty or respect but rather, he'd continue to use that worthless facade in an attempt to make me feel comfortable enough until he could stab my back and take control of the First Order!" Hux's voice stung like fresh flames and as he continued on, he began to slide one of his hands out from behind his back. "Which is why during our final 'chat', I managed to snatch this!" The general held his fist up by his face, showing everyone the small golden ring present on his finger, a ring that was especially recognizable to Esdeath who looked on with pleasant surprise whereas everyone else was somewhat in the dark with the exception of Phasma who was told about them by Kylo after they returned from destroying Wild Hunt.

"What you see before you is the Imperial Arms in the hands of its RIGHTFUL owner!" Before anyone could voice their retorts, Hux continued on. "This ring was a fixture in our galaxy thousands of years in the past and was only meant to be wielded by conquerors who your prime minister was not! With this very weapon, I have the possibility of shattering just about every Imperial Arms I come across for they belonged to and were created by the Sith, conquerors of the dark, masters of the shadows and like all races, you believed like peons that these weapons were of your creation, knowing deep in your hearts that wasn't true!"

"Bullcrap!" Hux immediately snapped his gaze towards the random warrior.

"State your identity!" Hux demanded.

"Lieutenant Wilhelm," The imperial said with a nod. "and I would just like to take this moment to say that you are quite frankly, full of crap."

"Is that so?" Hux said with a degree of falseness, stopping for a moment to give a small motion to Phasma.

"The Imperial Arms w-AAAHHHAAGGHH!" Just like that, the soldier was sent careening towards the ground in a flash of red light, letting out a loud gut-wrenching and somewhat amusing shriek causing everyone to look towards the chrome trooper whose silver blaster had smoke trailing from the barrel.

"Anyone else wanting to die today?" The crowd kept shifting back and forth between the captain, the corpse and Hux until finally, they simply stood up straight and waited in dead silence with the general looking on with a cold stare. "That man right there, that man was a perfect example of the kind of ignorance Honest expected you to have while you weren't occupied worshiping his ugly mug. He led you into believing nothing but a pure farce!" Seeing as the crowd started to get riled up, showing that their brains were turning, Hux continued on, raising his voice every chance he got as well to emphasize his point along with a variety of hand gestures.

"He promised you peace, you received corruption! He promised you wealth, you received dirt! He constantly made empty promises not to help you but to reel you in close enough until he could grip you by the collar and continuously shake you down for money which did NOTHING but fund his worthless ventures into fine dining! And while that was going on, you were left starving, begging for some form of mercy or kindness only to receive nothing in return! You call that a prime minister? You would dare to call a worthless sack of flesh like that your ruler?! This Empire started out weak and has continued to fall down that hole ever since Honest first entered that position because he only WANTED you to believe in his lies and stupidity! He wanted you to continue supporting him not out of care for the Empire or capital but just so that he could continue to spend his money on worthless trinkets that did nothing but fuel his ego even more! He never led you, he never cared for you, he only used you as instruments, playing you until your strings shattered and you were left a worthless husk of your former selves!" With the exception of a few people, the crowd was actually starting to call out in anger, the words getting through their heads. After a few more minutes and after the crowds went silent, Hux turned his back to his audience and proceeded to examine the small ring on his finger.

"Now the obvious question remains, how should I bring about the rebirth of the Empire?" Hux began softly. "How could I possibly bring order and respect to this fine nation where there was none before? How could I undo all of the mistakes that the fat fool has made?" Silence and unease filled the room, the only sounds that could be heard being the occasional shuffling of feet from people who were re-positioning themselves and the occasional uncomfortable cough. The general continued to examine his ring, not caring about those who watched on in anticipation with one of them in particular being Budo who was especially curious about what was about to happen. After a few seconds, the general spoke once more.

"It's rather simple..." Looking up from his prize at long last, he quickly shifted his gaze back towards the armored man at the bottom, using only his peripheral and slight movements of his head to do so. Tightening his fist even more to the point where gloves made a faint squeak, Hux let out the last line.

"the Empire has to be DESTROYED!" With that, the general jerked himself a full 360 and pointed the ring towards Budo, the general being left in complete shock as the eye shot open, a bright beam of light shooting out towards his body where in the manner of seconds, everyone watched in shock as the two shimmering gauntlets he possessed practically disintegrated right at the same time as the eyeball present in the ring shattered into a million shards.

"Budo!" A group of imperials shouted right as they began to charge toward Hux as the big brute of a general continued to look at his hands with shock. Smirking, Esdeath immediately gripped the cloak and threw it off of her, feeling as the Force began to channel through her body like an electric current. Seeing as the soldiers stopped in shock, she took her chance and with a swipe of her hand, the troops were sent crashing down onto the ground, clearing the way for the Jaegers to see what has become of their former commander.

"Esdeath ditched us... for them?! Why?!" Despite desperately wanting to know, Wave knew deep down that this question was in vain and instead just continued to watch as Budo, their stoic new commander, was left to gaze on with shock at what happened.

"General," He began, voice full of surprise and disbelief. "what are y-GACK!"

"General!" Just like that, Wave watched as the man they called commander came rising up into the air, grasping at his collar, gasping desperately for air as he continued to gaze down at the former imperial whose hand was outstretched towards him, her yellow eyes cutting into his soul with that thousand yard stare which was topped with a sadistic smirk. Among the people watching this all unfold were the two troopers by the throne who underneath the mask were more than a little worried about what their new ally could do. Looking over at her, Hux watched as what looked to be a small hilt seemed to shift and wriggle on her belt which he took as a sign that he should back up and give her the floor, a move that did nothing to raise the two troopers' morale. After a few seconds, everyone watched with awe as the hilt moved its way up to Esdeath's side and with a hum of energy, a bright red beam of energy came shooting out, forming a nice piercing blade, inciting a gasp from the audience who continued to look on, worried about what was to happen next.

Suddenly, the former imperial with her smirk still intact flicked her wrist and just like that, the blade came hurtling behind her, spinning like an out of control Frisbee and ended up "accidentally" aiming for the two troopers who before they could react, they felt as the blade came slicing through their necks before proceeding to fly back towards the user who caught it perfectly without hassle. A few seconds later, the two troopers came collapsing down onto the floor, the heads rolling from their necks and down to the crowds below much to their horror and disgust, the latter of which was especially displayed due to some people rushing out the room to vomit. With Budo being the only one left, he continued to stare down at Esdeath, his face full of frightful anticipation as to what was about to happen next.

"General Esdeath, just why?" Budo asked, trying to push himself to speak. Saying nothing, Esdeath continued to stare for a good few moments until finally, her face developed into a full grin and without saying a single word, she jerked her arm back and just like that, the bulky figure came flying through the air at a LITERAL breakneck speed as a loud "CRACK!" could be heard in the seconds that followed the inhuman hiss of energy along with the general's head going limp but unfortunately, most people didn't notice and instead, they watched as the red energy blade stabbed through the man's armor and flesh with the tip of the blade just barely illuminating his back flesh, letting out another inhuman hiss the moment it entered, inciting another series of frightened gasps and faces all throughout the room, a sound that became music to the former imperial's ears as she began to lean forward, looking into the man's lifeless eyes and said with a whisper.

"Esdeath is dead." With that, the warrior flicked her weapon off, watching as the massive corpse came falling down onto the floor below and the moment that it did, she turned towards the massive group staring at her with fear.

"Esdeath is not a name I go by anymore!" She began, her voice loud, stern and commanding. "Forever will it be known as a name associated with the pitiful failure that was the Empire! At this very moment, while the Empire left you believing that you were living in peace, high in the mountains and far from here, the Revolutionary Army has been continuously taking advantage of our weakness, mounting attacks, killing our innocents and worst of all, they all do this while supporting the loathsome regime that is Night Raid! I did not betray the Empire nor did I betray our nation, I left the Empire because it is not in our future as Honest has already burned its reputation to ASHES! Through his rule, we didn't rise like a fallen angel ready to reclaim what was ours, we instead were sent down into the pits of HELL! Groups such as Wild Hunt who brutalized our friends and family were allowed to run free and do as they please while the Empire continued to sit and wait until Honest finished wiping his fat fingers free of the grease his expensive meal brought him! So I left and through Kylo Ren, I saw the unarguable truth! If the Empire was allowed to lead our future, our fine nation would CRUMBLE under the weight of stupidity and the despicable Revolutionaries! They are not enemies! They are not miscreants! They are not rivals! What they are is the FIRST ORDER AND WHAT THEY ASK FOR IS FOR YOUR ALLEGIANCE SO THAT THEY MAY LEAD US INTO A PROSPEROUS FUTURE AND I, VITANI REN WILL INSURE THAT YOU ALL SHALL GIVE IT!" With the exception of Wave, Kurome, Bols and Run, everyone in the audience let out a loud grunt as they thrust their arms into the air, accepting the First Order most likely out of fear but regardless the sight was one to behold as it encouraged the former imperial to look down and walk towards her comrades.

"All troops! Move out!" Realizing there was no way out of this, Wave let out a sigh and with the Jaegers, Stormtroopers and imperials, he followed Vitani out towards the horse stables. As he continued to walk, the swordsman took a moment to look back towards Seryu who was strangely staying behind with Hux and the chrome trooper walking up to her which he knew could only mean bad news. After a few seconds of staring, he looked forward and couldn't help but utter right at the same time with Kurome a phrase he had been using for a little while now.

"I've got a really bad feeling about this."

* * *

( _Undisclosed_ _Forest_ )

"Tatsumi! Tatsumi you here?!" Mine called out, hands cupped over her mouth. It had been a little while since Night Raid's last meeting which mainly discussed the impending battle between them and the Jaegers and just like the past few times that came before, Tatsumi was not exactly looking the most happy though unlike the previous, he just kept silent throughout the whole thing, something that was really out of character for him as he usually had at least one question about the whole plan but instead, he kept to himself and just a few seconds later when the meeting was done, he grabbed his sword and left for the nearby forest, most likely in order to find a nice body of water to relax himself which was something that sounded especially good to the sniper who upon giving the whole situation more thought found that she was fearing for Tatsumi's life more and more.

As she continued to tear through most of the forest searching for her partner, far on the other side, the boy was sitting back against a rock, eyes closed, the only sounds he made being small gentle breaths. Sleep hadn't exactly been important to the boy as of late which people could easily tell with just how dark his eyes were which mostly due to both his constant push to train and the nightmares he kept having about a man named Darth Vader and how he kept getting confused for a man that he had no idea about nor did he know how to pronounce the name, the only thing he knew was that it sounded as though it began with a "U" and everything stopped there. With this in mind, this meant that anytime he could finally take a moment to relax, Tatsumi didn't care about any sort of consequences and just took it so while everyone else was for some reason, allowed to swim and relax which apparently was a part of the plan as a form of "casually attracting attention", he decided that he would rather spend more time away and take a moment to rest for the coming battle. As his light breaths continued on, a voice echoed out and unlike the previous, the structure of what it said seemed to be... odd and sounded as though it belonged to an old man.

"Purge the Dark Side, you must." The boy felt as his brow began to scrunch up.

"Who are you?"

"Only a hermit, am I." The voice replied back.

"A hermit? Please tell me who are you?"

"My name, not important it is. What you should be paying attention to, only my words are." Finally Tatsumi's eyes shot open and upon taking a few glances at the swampy environment around him, he was certain that he was dreaming, a sentiment that the voice seemed to sense.

"Refreshing to see the eyes of a young mind, is it." The boy shifted his gaze towards the front, only to have his eyes widen at what exactly filled his vision. Sitting in front of him was a tiny green creature, dressed in white robes, sitting on a rock with a small cane in hand, looking as though he was hundreds of years old though his face had the gentle kindness of a wise old sage.

"Surprised by my appearance are you, hmm? Yeesssssss." The figure said, the voice sounding just as gentle and even somewhat playful. "Limited to size wisdom is not. The truth, what you see is. The Force lies not."

"Who are you?" Tatsumi asked, easing closer to the little green figure whose ears seem to perk up slightly.

"Young Tatsumi, only your conscience, I am." The boy's head cocked to the side out of confusion.

"Conscience? What are you talking about?" The green man took in a deep breath.

"Been tempting you, the Dark Side has. Here to set you on the path of the light I am."

"The Dark Side? Why does everyone keep talking about that? Why can't I just be left alone?" The figure took in another deep breath.

"Never leave you alone, the Dark Side will. Become an agent of evil, not until you have." The man said soothingly though the boy was still more than a little confused.

"Agent of evil? Why can't you just talk normally? Who in the hell are you?" The man let out a sigh.

"So impatient, this generation always is. But it helps you if, known in the Force as Yoda, I am and it matters not how I speak, only the meaning behind what I say does." Despite not having a single idea about who this Yoda was, just from hearing his voice, the boy couldn't help but feel a pounding in his chest, as if the words had that much of an effect on him. In response to his actions, the little creature cocked his head to the side.

"I sense, quite troubled, you are. Me young one tell, what ails you, hmm?" Despite it being his chance, Tatsumi tried his hardest to keep his mouth shut, not feeling the most comfortable with telling a complete stranger about his issues, a sentiment that Yoda seemed to sense.

"Be afraid, do not, only here to help I am. To you I may be a stranger, but ill intent, I don't possess." Feeling somewhat reassured, the boy gave up and let out a sigh.

"This group called the First Order invaded my home planet a few days ago and now... everything is just going crazy." The figure stepped off of his small rock and leaned in close, his interest clearly piqued.

"What mean you by crazy, hmm?"

"Well... everything, my family is gone, my friends are dropping like flies and most recently because apparently caring for friends is a bad idea, I've now been labelled a liability by Night Raid who want to... who want to..." Seeing he had trouble getting the words out, Yoda decided to give him a bit of encouragement.

"I know how hard, for you, is it. But need to know this information, I do. Relax yourself you must." Listening to the advice, Tatsumi took a deep breath, letting the single tear drop from his eye, the one tear that showed the pain he felt before proceeding.

"They want to silence me and ever since the moment I heard it, I keep having these..."

"Of the nightmares I know. Of Vader's visits I know."

"Wait, you know of them already?" Yoda nodded. "But how?"

"An energy that surrounds us, the Force is, binds us, knows, it always knows."

"There you go again with that Force-talk, just what is it with this energy-field that's so important and why do people keep saying I have it?" At that moment, Yoda shut his eyes, almost as though he was meditating, much to Tatsumi's confusion until he started speaking.

"To fight an internal struggle between the dark and the light I see a family doomed." Tatsumi's eyes widened with interest.

"A family? Do you mean my family?" Yoda nodded.

"I see a Jedi, your bloodline one who I presume comes from."

"A Jedi? What's his name? Please do tell me?"

"Patience young one, still searching I am." Silencing himself, Tatsumi continued to patiently wait to receive his answer, realizing it to be unwise to rush someone like Yoda. "See it I do, Ulic Qe-"

"Tatsumi!" A female voice called out, causing the boy to stand up.

"Mine?" Realizing it was just an echo, Tatsumi looked back towards the green man who was beginning to slowly fade out.

"Careful Tatsumi must you be. Normal emotions and harmless on their own, anger and grief are. But you let them dominate your life if, doomed to become a slave to the Dark Side, will you be. Farewell, I bid you." With that, Tatsumi tried his best to reach out for the green man but instead found himself falling through the floor, screaming only to find that his face and hand hit something soft and pillow-like when he was expecting excruciating pain... which came once he felt the back of a hand crashing straight into his face.

"What the hell were you thinking?! Trying to cop a feel?!" Realizing who the voice belonged to, Tatsumi immediately shook himself free of his daze and found himself to be right back where he fell asleep.

"What the hell happened to me?" He asked himself. "And where's Yoda?" Mine's eyes moved from being narrow with anger to widened with concern.

"Yoda? Who's that?" Realizing it was nothing important, the boy decided to move on.

"Never mind, a better question is what are you doing out here Mine?"

"We're just about ready to head out so I came out here to get you."

"You mean Najenda sent you out here." Despite it being the truth, the sniper couldn't help but feel more than a little odd nodding her head yes to that, feeling as though with what happened recently, that name was almost like a curse. Not noticing one thing, Tatsumi turned back towards the direction he went down.

"Okay then, let's g-"

"Hold on a moment." Mine said softly, gripping Tatsumi's arm. "Tatsumi, there's something I want to give you before we head off." The boy's brow cocked upward.

"What is it?" Feeling the butterflies starting to flap in her stomach, the girl couldn't help herself as red came washing over her face.

"It's just that... with the First Order being most likely involved, this might be the last time we ever see each other or at least, the last time we'll see each other like this." Tatsumi's mouth dropped open slightly with realization, for some reason he actually never took the time to realize that actually might be the case. With warriors such as Kylo Ren on the loose and the reports of what people like him could do combined with the threat of the Jaegers, it was a very high possibility that no one was going to come out of this battle unscathed and most likely, there was going to be more than a few who end up losing their lives which included him.

"That is true isn't it?" Tatsumi said, looking up at the sky for a brief moment. The sniper gave a nod in response before proceeding to slowly lean in towards his unassuming face. "Well then, what is it that you want t-" Before he could finish, the sniper wrapped her arms around his torso and crushed her lips against his, causing his eyes to come shooting open and a blush to develop across his face. After a few seconds of holding it, Mine pulled away and looked the boy in the eyes.

"What the, why did y-" Stopping his flabbergasted mumbling with a simple finger to his lips, the sniper said with a rather soft voice.

"It's for luck." Before he could even ask anything, the sniper made her way right past him, leaving the boy to stand there dumbfounded for a few seconds before eventually he followed suit, one thought constantly moving at the back of his head. It was of course regarding Mine's sudden kiss and how most likely, it didn't just stand for luck but surprisingly there was something more to it, something that was more in line with a natural fear or concern.

Even if he survived this fight, he knew that walking out he would most likely never be the same again.


	19. Chapter 19

( _First Order Transport_ )

The moment Kylo Ren heard that the meeting was a success and that they were now on the move was the moment that he decided to take matters into his hands which was perfectly represented by the small, box-shaped ships that flew from a port at the side of the truthfully immense Resurgent class warship, looking almost invisible when placed in front of the thing's surface before eventually, they came into clear view when they reached the morning light, the ships' darker paneling providing a stark contrast against the brighter blue skies. Unlike most systems however, the ship they were most familiar with was the TIE fighter and still hadn't exactly gotten the best look at the transports.

Which worked wonderfully in the First Order's favor as the element of surprise was now of the essence due to the unfamiliarity everyone had with the ships which brought back more than a few memories of how the first major attack which was on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk went almost the exact same way.

The transports themselves were that of a proven design, based mainly on the civilian transport ships that various city-planets had started using so that they could keep from being detected by onlookers who might've caused a commotion about their arrival if one recognized the spacecraft. With this in mind, the vessels themselves were rather basic in design, lacking any real bells or whistles with the exception of at least a few turrets which even then were used as a last resort if it was flanked in anyway. It was partially inspired by the original transports the Empire traveled in but unlike the extensive redesign that the Destroyers went through, this ship, like the TIE fighters only needed the most basic of upgrades to push it into the modern era, to compete with much more advanced technology and in spite of the few changes, it still performed its primary function with brute efficiency.

As they went about their mundane daily procedures below, the Revolutionary soldiers on the glowing mudball called Earth had absolutely no idea that they were about to be visited not by the Empire, not by Esdeath but by the cold soulless elite squadrons of the most recent threat to hit their planet, the First Order.

On board the five transports, over one hundred white-clad troopers along with two sadists prepared for touchdown in the manner of all soldiers everywhere. The occasional wisecrack was thrown out among the flickering, humid environment of the ship which smelled immensely of sweat and grime, a stench nowhere near as awful as Honest and one you could get used to but did take adjustment when it came to the newer recruits. There was occasional talk about what might await them down below but that was only from the one or two troopers aboard who were again, fresh off the "assembly line" as some of the hardened troopers referred to the training programs but as for everyone else or in other words, the veterans of the bunch who had the scars and experience to show for their years of service to the Empire and First Order, they simply remained silent and entered into the usual pre-battle procedures though they sometimes couldn't help but take part in the natural camaraderie.

Through the occasional surges of adrenaline that generated friendly nudges from soldier to soldier and the playful light whack on a partner's arm, it was clear the men all knew each other rather well which was especially evident by the banter that was thrown between two troopers on one of the ships and to the two Demons on board, it was most especially odd when considering the fact that they all seemed much more machine-like than they did man.

FN-2180, FN-2577, FN-2583, designations like this drove the point even further that the First Order more preferred to keep uniformity among its army and focused on being a cold merciless terror of the galaxy than it did trying to give everyone individuality. Of course, those behind the scenes would know that underneath that hunk of armor, there were human beings and even aliens who conducted these operations and as seen now, they did engage in a bit of natural conversation but that was only when they weren't seen and regardless of how this was, there would always be the occasional shout of "Cut the chatter!" by a commanding officer on board who would make certain that the focus was centered purely on the mission at hand, a sight that certainly incited a few chuckles from those such as the massive Ibarra before he was immediately silenced by a quick threat from the army which was made even with the knowledge of what they could do, it was quite the step up they had to admit from the previous ship where no one wanted to even glance at them.

This would continue on usually for about several minutes until the ship neared the ground below but considering the brand new "toys" they had to show off, the announcements were made rather early.

"All troops form up!" The pilot barked, the voice sounding crackly both from the radio and the sharp tone it possessed which some felt was like a whip cracking across their back. "We're nearing the drop-point!"

At this point, squad leaders shouted various commands, trying their hardest to beat out the hum of engines and rattling of metal. Weapons were armed, checked and rechecked. The new specialized troopers in the back which had small tubes attaching to the single silver spoke on their helmets which traced all the way down to a tool well known to those who learned of the Darktrooper project and the Mandalorians were making sure that they had more than enough fuel to make their descent as they didn't trust what the troopers had in the front. The ones in the front had the standard issue armor and looked relatively plain among the crowds from the waist up. But when the eyes trailed lower, they would immediately take notice of the lower leg armor which upon first glance, looked normal until closer inspection brought up the thin, almost invisible panel lines that ran all the way up to just below the knee where on the side, there was a small black circle and inside was a small, simple light that told those who looked if the device was locked or not.

These were the signs of a brand new piece of equipment that the First Order created which was initially called the "Newell project", named after the head designer Veval Newell who came up with the idea that in order to save time on simply landing the craft which could lead to inevitable counter-attack, the armor of a Stormtrooper should be outfitted with something that could allow them to dive into battle and suffer no major internal or external damage upon impact.

Impressed with the proposal, the piece of tech was put through several tests and only now was it about to be unleashed onto the field in the first major conflict that at long last had nothing to do with striking worthless villages and performing capture operations. At long last, their skills could hopefully be tested or at least, the new tools could.

At long last, the real fun could begin.

As for the other troopers present, the tests were as anyone would expect. Flametroopers took special care in making sure that their weapons were loaded to full capacity. In a move that showcased the larger emphasis on teamwork that was set in place, troopers more often than not checked the armor of their neighbor, making sure that joints were sealed, panels were tight and that the comm-links were working in perfect condition. Usually by this point, the ensuing silence would be replaced by a deep rumbling, indicating that they were nearing the surface of the planet and in the case of the surrounding cruisers, this certainly was the case as usual but as for the one leading the charge, the one which had for once the Demons Ibarra and Suzuka standing in the very front, ready to lead their battalion into battle, that rumble was completely missing and instead, the whirring of the ship's all new suspension system filled the air and just barely among all the commotion, the troops could hear the sounds of jaws dropping as well as a few... inappropriate comments being made by the Revolutionaries below them which were more often than not filled with expletives alongside the expected cases of armor rattling.

Locking and loading, the only sound playing now, far louder than the others was the roar of thunder and crunching metal as the doors dropped open, the thin beam of sunlight hitting Ibarra square in the eyes, causing him to instinctively throw his hand up in an attempt to block it, a sight that brought about a chuckle from Suzuka as well as an unexpectedly immature joke from one of the higher-ups... though strangely, no one bothered to try and quiet them, as if that little bit was the exact form of distraction that was needed to be conducted, like it was a part of one larger, personal plan and if asked, the officers would do nothing except speak a message, one that somehow seemed both cryptic and painfully obvious.

"One is the only thing we truthfully need." As this message flashed through his mind, the actual commander of the group silently waved to his men to raise their weapons, an order usually reserved for when the combat was just about to begin which made the timing of it all the more perfect as the two Demons didn't suspect a single thing, chalking everything up to a simple case of anxiety and instead, focused their attention on the doors as they stopped halfway, acting as a small little platform which just barely blocked the sight of the Revolutionaries below. Smirking, Ibarra stepped out first, his cracking his knuckles along the way.

"Oh it feels good to be back in the sunlight, ready to bust heads." He commented, taking a moment to crack his neck. Soon after, the sadist joined his side, her attention being devoted to her extended nails which she was licking in a particularly erotic fashion.

"I'm waiting to see just how good they are at punishing me." The brute chuckled.

"Knowing these guys, you'd probably wind up disappointed." Suzuka let out a playful sigh right at the same time that the commander of the forces threw up three fingers, beginning a slow countdown to something that every trooper had been waiting for.

"True but a gal can dream can't they?" With the chuckle that was released, one finger went down.

"Anyone can dream, only few can achieve it." The next finger went down, leaving only the pointer to which the men who saw it responded by immediately firing up their standard issue F-11D blaster rifles and megablasters, the instruments of destruction whirring to life with the sounds of the ship being just loud enough to block it.

"Surprisingly prof-" Throwing his hand forward, the commander watched as in the next few moments, the two Demons went from having another one of their pointless conversations regarding how much they enjoyed pain, to being at the mercy of several blaster bolts pelting their flesh in a move that would've caused ripples of excruciating agony (or enjoyment in their case.) if it weren't for the fact that the first few shots went straight into their skulls and since those first shots came from the megablasters, the troopers and the Revolutionaries watched with faces of unflinching determination and shock respectively as tiny bloodied, charred pieces of brain matter came splattering down onto the land with some of the blood finding itself a nice landing spot on the Revolutionaries' faces and armor which incited nothing but disgust from them all.

However, they didn't exactly have the time to deal with this since seconds later, they watched as the First Order troopers came leaping onto the battlefield, the commander using both his legs to dropkick the two corpses down, using them as some extra cushioning to break his fall which he also received in the form of two rebels who he managed to crush underneath it all, their armor clanking right as the two hunks of flesh hit them followed up by screams of terror as Suzuka's still extended nails came stabbing into one of their eyeballs. With that, the rest came quite literally flying in droves as the Skytroopers came ripping through the air, opening fire on the poor souls below with blaster carbine shots that were exceptionally aimed with most of them completely ignoring the armor and instead ripped through the flesh of their faces in almost an instant. The regular Stormtroopers felt their new high impact boots click to life right as they leaped off of the vessel, some wielding blasters while most had batons in hand but nevertheless, the result was the same. The blaster bolts tore through the group of soldiers like they were paper, blood splattering onto the ground in an instant as the wounds got larger and larger, going as far as to expose muscle, tendons and bone with the pain that followed being practically unbearable.

They wouldn't have to last through for it for very long however. For those who either didn't die already or managed to avoid the blasts with varying degrees of success, their time came in the form of electrified metal rods that in just a few seconds, came crashing down onto their skulls, spreading bone and brain matter everywhere like a squished pumpkin. But it didn't stop there as the moment the troopers hit the ground was the moment the Revolutionaries decided that for whatever reason, this was the time to fight back and without warning, they came charging out onto the battlefield from behind bushes and trees with weapons at the ready, a move that proved to be far more dangerous than what it was worth.

Without a shred of fear in their system, the white-clad brutes shifted their sights towards the incoming wave, pulled the trigger and watched as through a combination of red light and dust, the bodies went dropping like flies. Seeing their chance, the Flametroopers stomped towards the center, firmly shoving a few of those who just so happened to be in their way and once they were in position, they squeezed their triggers, leaving the army to watch as a massive inferno came flying towards them, the temperatures causing both their armor and flesh to catch flame in a matter of seconds.

Which left many of the younger warriors to watch in the back as relatives, friends and rivals went from fearlessly rushing the enemy with a war-cry to scorched masses of indistinguishable flesh that were screaming out in agony. For the most part, this filled them with an unyielding fury and lust for revenge as they charged headfirst into the carnage but on more than occasion, the few who didn't experience this actually started to make a hasty retreat. A retreat that led them into being gunned down by blaster-fire from troopers who were just beginning to land which served not just as an example of the horrors of war but it also made a statement.

Fighting against the First Order was a death sentence.

* * *

( _Undisclosed Cliff-side_ )

The itch of a trigger-finger, it was a feeling that soldiers who have become desensitized to war know all too well. A feeling that usually springs up when one is requested to kneel down at a particular spot, lock and load and wait for the best time to strike. For most troopers who got a job that required this, it wasn't exactly anything that they particularly cared about nor did they find it a huge issue as the briefings that came before made it sound especially easy. This feeling in particular would even continue all the way through the trip from the flight to the drop-off.

Until a few minutes had passed which to the soldiers a part of it all, felt more like an eternity had gone on, making it feel as though that by the time their target showed up, they would already be dead from having wasted their life away. To make matters even worse, these operations were usually conducted while in another far off area, their fellow comrades were already unloading whole packs of ammo into entire SWARMS of the opposition while the ones who were stuck with the job were left having not fired a single shot though as they were taught through simulations, their fingers must always be on the trigger at all times which seemed to be a practice designed with the intent of driving someone insane and for some reason, even the most hardened, patient of troopers fell to it, even the one who was considered the best of the best, FN-2199...

And if anyone brought up the accusation, he most likely would reply about how he actually found this to be a very easy job to do. His only agreement being that it was a lack of something that was driving him mad but it had NOTHING to do with the shooting and instead had to do with the one blonde that even though he respected her about every detail regarding her past which involved a tale of being left to fend for oneself and having to face unimaginable odds while doing so as well as her skills, he still found himself not able to enjoy her occasional commentary.

"I'm so BORED!" She whined, laying right next to Nines who was currently prone with sniper rifle aimed firmly at a faint pink shape down below which was currently dressing up in what looked to be a battle outfit of some kind and seemed to load up what appeared to be a sniper rifle of her own though by the looks of things, it was almost as big as her entire body, a sight that certainly was strange. Though he couldn't focus on it for long as Mez continued on with her complaints.

"Is this like, their way of punishing me or something? This is fucking yawn inducing."

"No one ever said war was entertaining." Nines said with a sigh.

"They never said it was this boring either." The blonde replied standing up. "I mean, we should be out there busting chops and knocking asses down, not doing what's the equivalent of watching grass grow."

"We will go out there soon enough."

"Yeah... when we're 80." She scoffed.

"I might actually look forward to that time." Nines said, inciting a look from Mez.

"Why is that?"

"Because maybe by that time you'll actually take things seriously." Hearing him still ragging on about that particular detail, the warrior couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. setting her hands on her hips right as her face developed into a smirk.

"I wouldn't count on that buddy. What you see is what you're going to be with for like the rest of your life."

"Oh how lovely." Nines said with a roll of his eyes. "Though maybe by that point someone would most likely have the sense to just shoot me and get it over with."

"OR Captain Shiny Bitch would handcuff me to you as punishment for all that you've said about me." The trooper grit his teeth upon hearing his commander being slandered once again.

"Or maybe Captain PHASMA will have the sense to toss you out the nearest airlock."

"As if, I think you'd try and rescue me if that happened."

"I'd sooner go back with sanitation."

"I don't think s-wait, did you say sanitation?" Nines nodded. "The First Order knows more than just killing people?"

"I thought the mess hall was enough indication to you." The memory of being in the Finalizer's mess hall came rushing back through Mez's mind at a pace that neared close to lightspeed. Indeed for all she had seen the First Order go through which mostly consisted of shooting, training, weapon testing and occasionally for the few who desired to, practicing on the controls of a TIE fighter, the mess hall was something of an oddity as while it did show itself to have a chef who wore the standard attire of a First Order crewman, there were also several Stormtrooper volunteers who had helped to prepare the meals which could be considered a sign that there were more job opportunities. Except for the fact that as mentioned, they were nothing but volunteers and by "preparation", it really was more a case of them being the guys who slapped the meal on the person's plate or tray and took no part in the actual cooking of the food itself which is why she didn't count it as evidenced by her tone.

"I don't consider those who do nothing but serve slop all day as taking part in a regular job, sanitation is way different."

"It's still something troopers get assigned to. Isn't that enough proof for you?" Mez shook her head and leaned down.

"How was this sanitation job?" Mez asked, only to change her expression seconds later after coming to one realization. "Or is that classi-"

"Sanitation is not classified," Nines cut in. "in fact, MOST of the info you've asked from me was not classified."

"That's good to he-wait, what?"

"You heard me, most of what you thought was classified... was not actually classified." As she spoke her reply, the warrior couldn't help but feel the anger beginning to burn within her.

"Let me get this straight, you mean to tell me that with everything that I've asked you about from the Clone Wars to the Resistance was NEVER classified to begin with?" Nines nodded, causing her to fume even more. "Just... why?!"

"So you could hopefully just shut up and focus on the mission?" Nines replied, acting a little bit oblivious to the whole thing, his head and arms even moving with him which caused him to catch in his peripheral vision at long last, the blonde standing up straight once more, face red with anger, her body ripe to be spotted by the target.

"Why you stuck-up... HALF-WITTED... SHINY..." With how loud her voice was becoming, Nines immediately took notice of how the pink-haired target froze in her spot as though she had heard a noise which he knew that if Mez was spotted, their cover would be blown and their lives would be at risk, meaning that he had to think fast.

"NERFH-ACK!" Before Mez could react, the trooper immediately dropped his blaster and tackled her down onto the ground, hands rushing to cover her mouth.

"Is now really the time to be doing this?!" Nines asked with a gruff whisper, trying his hardest to keep the woman down and quiet though it certainly wasn't easy as her arms and legs were constantly flailing around, slapping against his armor with her body trying its best to wriggle itself free from his tight grip only to constantly fail at every turn. With the action leaving the man hovering over her, the trooper couldn't help but realize just how... compromising the position was and could only imagine the amount of comments that would be thrown out by his teammates about how he was like a moisture farmer getting ready to pick up some "power converters" like the typical immature little children they were.

Then again, he really didn't expect much as these were the same people who both came up with that one nickname and made those comments about how they would love to "train" with Phasma and even if he did, he found that after a long while, he just didn't care what they thought of him or what they would say as he knew that with them acting like such idiots, they were most likely going to die whereas he, Phasma and Zeroes would live to bring about a new age of peace in the galaxy.

As this continued on, the figure at the bottom of it all after listening in for a few more seconds shrugged it off, believing the sound to just be her imagination and got back into position and right then, Mez had finally managed to throw the trooper's hand off her mouth.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She questioned angrily.

"Me?" Nines began, motioning to himself. "Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm not the one who nearly GAVE AWAY our position to the enemy."

"Just like I'm not the one who would be an asshole and lie to their friend." FN-2199 cocked his head to the side.

"Lie to my friend?" The trooper planted his hand against his helmet, acting as though he was pinching the bridge of his nose. "How many times do I have to spell this out for you? You are not my friend!"

"Even when we worked together?"

"Yes."

"Even when we sparred?"

"Yes"

"Even when you saved me?"

"No, yes!" Mez tilted her head.

"You stumbled a bit, is there something up?" Realizing what he did, Nines shook his head which caused the blonde to smirk.

"Are you sure? Because that correction says otherwise."

"I didn't correct myself." Mez gave him the best fake frown she could muster.

"Like are you seriously trying to lie to me again?"

"A trooper like me doesn't lie."

"I'd beg to differ."

"Please shut up." Mez shook her head.

"I appreciate you saying please but sorry, that ain't happening." Nines sighed.

"You think I don't know that?"

"Then why do you continue trying? In fact, if you hate me so much, why do you continue to stay? Why don't you request Chrome Bitch to change me out?" Despite wearing a helmet, the blonde could feel the scorching heat of his glare.

"Her name is Captain Phasma!"

"You say Phasma, I say bitch." Mez said snarkily. "It's like the people who argue over how to pronounce tomato or potato." Right at that moment, Nines could feel for the first time in awhile his cool slowly slipping.

"It's like t-ARE YOU REALLY THAT GODDAMN STUPID?!"

"Oh boy, looks like someone needs to take a chill pill and add a dollar to their swear jar."

"How about I do that AFTER I'm done with you?"

"After you're done with me? Is that like your attempt at a threat?" Mez asked with a chuckle.

"Do you really want to mess with someone like me who can put you six feet under?" The blonde's smirk grew even wider.

"As I said before, I would actually be concerned if it wasn't for the fact that I know you don't have the balls to do it."

"It doesn't take 'balls'," Nines began. "it takes a desire to kill someone."

"And I don't think you desire to kill me..." Her face soon shifted into a look that was a bit more playful. "or at least, not in that way." Considering the man had to deal with immature teens for years now and has heard just about every crass comment he could think of, it didn't take long before he realized what the blonde was referring to and right then and there, he couldn't help but feel that this was reiterating his exact point about the girl and how even with her depressing upbringing, he still couldn't bring himself to be any less hard on her and he ESPECIALLY couldn't fathom all the elements that went into it.

As a warrior, Mez was everything the First Order needed and more. Fast, powerful to the point of being near superhuman levels and light on her feet, the blonde was the type of warrior that the rest of the riot control troopers could only dream of being and had she possessed the attitude of him or at the very least took events a bit more seriously, she definitely would've been in the running as one of the best warriors of his generation.

Of course, that wasn't the case and instead, her attitude was as previously mentioned several times before, more like that of a spoiled, immature teenager than a fully grown adult and due to that, it was why Phasma auctioned her off with him, so that he could hopefully mold her into someone who would actually show respect, a notion that had he known was impossible to achieve, he would've sicked her on Zeroes and left it at that.

Or at least, that's what he would like to think. The sad truth was that for all that talk he'd have about how he never considered her a friend, for all those times he has actively thrown out retort after retort about how she needed to take things seriously, he actually found himself not able to have it any other way especially since when it came to what she did, it reminded him an awful lot of someone, one who would often joke and take situations lightly.

That someone being him way back during the days of when he trained with FN-2000 who often would get just about as angry at him as he would to Mez. Granted part of that was just Zeroes being Zeroes as he never got to Mez-levels of annoyance and would more often than not buckle down when things got just a little bit heated but as far as being light was concerned, he would more often than not do this with Eight-Seven and Slip in order to make sure that they were eased into the dynamic of the First Order, often throwing out jokes, an occasional snarky comment or two or sometimes just genuine positivity... which he all but abandoned after Jakku or at least, he didn't do so until Takodana when he saw his comrade on the battlefield, lightsaber stabbed into a trooper's chest wearing a jacket.

The exact same jacket as the Resistance pilot.

And from that point on after waking up in the med-bay, the only thing keeping him alive being sheer willpower along with a lust for revenge, deep down he still felt that even with all that had happened, his failure to bring justice to the group by killing the traitor was a mistake that deserved nothing but death and with this mission pulling them further away, he just felt even more distant and even more angry to the point where he just couldn't bring himself to be happy about... well... anything. He didn't want to conquer Earth, he didn't want to fight the Revolutionary Army and he most definitely didn't want to worry about these two girls. His main desire was to find and get revenge on Eight-Seven and that was final and no one was going to get in his way nor was he going to let anyone get so close.

And yet, he already found himself breaking that rule when it came to Mez and no matter how many times he tried to fight or run away from it all, he knew deep down inside that there was absolutely no way for that to be possible with the new question now being when he was eventually just going to stop bothering and give in.

"Umm... Nines? Are you doing okay?" Mez asked with concern, having just watched the trooper space out for what seemed like a full hour when it really was only a few minutes. Giving no answer, FN-2199 instead began to take in several deep breaths, almost in preparation for what he was about to do.

"Nines? You're kinda like, freaking me out here." Raising his hands up to his face, the trooper gave it a final few thoughts before taking in another deep breath and mentally throwing out a "To hell with it.".

"Are you doing alr-MMPH!" Right then and there, Nines grabbed hold of his helmet, set it to the side and without warning, he leaned down and kissed Mez straight on the lips, a move that caused her eyes to widen, her mind feeling rather conflicted about what just happened. Considering she never even got a kiss from Tie, she was always left to imagine what her first kiss would be like and at the very least, she got one with Nines... but it definitely was not what she expected.

Unlike what she saw in the movies, the trooper was less trying to tenderly suck face and more was trying to gnaw it off, his moves resembling more that of a wild predator. In spite of all this though, Mez found herself enjoying it though after a few more minutes, she immediately pushed him away.

"What in the fuck... was that?" Mez asked, trying to catch her breath.

"I can't hold back anymore Mez," Nines began, his hands grasping her face. "not anymore, not now."

"What do you mean you can't hold back? What's going o-" The trooper looked her dead in the eyes.

"What's going on is the fact I LOVE you!" With what he just called out, the blonde was left in shock, leaving him to continue on. "It may sound crazy with all that I've done but I'm completely serious. Even with all that you've done, even with how you've never supported the First Order, even with all the insults you keep calling Phasma and even with the fact that you can't take anything seriously. I can't hide from the truth anymore. I love you Mez, you're actually intelligent, you're humorous, you're incredibly talented, you're everything I ever could've wanted and more and I mean this from the bottom of my heart. You are the only one who truthfully understands what I've been through and only now do I realize how much of a fool I've been for ignoring these feelings all this time. Mez, I truly... deeply... lo-"

"You had me at I love you." Mez said with a smirk, her finger on his mouth. "Don't you know it's unwise to keep talking when we want you to just shut up and get on with it? Because no offense, what you were about to say sounded like it came from some five-year-old's book on writing romance." Before the trooper could say anything, the blonde used her strength and switched their positions so that she was on top, straddling him with her head inches from his face. "But I wouldn't have it any other way." And just like that, the two went right back into kissing which soon went from a simple peck into a passionate make-out session with hands caressing the bodies of one another which to them, was widely considered to be heaven and overall, it couldn't have come at any better time.

Despite the noises being somewhat loud to the point where it echoed ever so slightly, the pink-haired sniper down remembered her training and ignored it, her focus purely being on searching for a certain swordswoman, one who she felt Akame couldn't fight as the end results would most likely be too heartbreaking for her to bear through due to her connections, one who was also known as being one of the most dangerous members in all the Jaegers if eyewitness reports were to be believed.

She of course was referring to the warrior known as Kurome though if she had to be honest, even if that wasn't to be the case, just about anyone from the First Order would've been quite a worthy substitute, especially if it had anything to do with Kylo Ren as not only was she sick of hearing about him but it was also due to just how much he'd screwed up Tatsumi that his death would bring her so much solace but regardless, her thoughts were definitely more centered on the former especially when that particular person came into view along with a short, black-haired male who bared more than a little resemblance to Tatsumi and another who was masked and well fit, looking almost as though he was a serial killer.

"Target acquired," She thought to herself, her eyes being perfectly centered down the sights, not being able to help the small smirk that formed. "and it's exactly as we expected, Esdeath is looking to handle our boss more than she is looking to handle us. Meaning we actually will have a fighting chance." A few seconds later, when her cross-hairs centered on Kurome, she couldn't help but feel her eyes widen right as her brain made the obvious comparison.

"They look so similar, they really are sisters." Standing up straight, the sniper powered on her weapon and began to line up the shot. "That's exactly why I can't leave this for Akame, she can talk all she wants about how this is so important but there's no way I'm letting her go through something this difficult. I'll make this easy and do it in one shot." With that said and without a second thought, Mine pulled the trigger and in just a few seconds, a single thin yellow laser came bursting from the gun at a breakneck pace, its target being dead set on the swordswoman. With every second that passed, the blast got closer and closer until it was almost mere inches away. Noticing it rather quickly, the woman without a second thought, dived out of the way at the very last second, leaving the beam to make contact with the rocks behind her much to Mine's complete shock.

"Wait, she dodged it?!" Her mind shouted, watching as the swordswoman immediately went into a fighting stance, paying no mind to the shadowy figure that was diving in. "That was a fraction of a second, just what has the Empire done to her?!

Seeing as the attempt failed, it was now time for plan B and with that in mind, the wicker figure in front of the two began to shake, bulge and twitch until finally in a puff of smoke, out came Susanoo with weapon in hand and Kurome right in his sights.

"KUROME!" His reflexes at the ready, Wave was just about to charge into battle when suddenly, a familiar shadowy figure came charging right in front as soon as his hands touched the blade and with a red streak of light, there came another inhuman hiss followed up by the sound of crackling energy and once he saw who this figure was, his jaw dropped right at the same time as Mine's and the other Night Raid members did with the exception of Susanoo who was trying his hardest to do the impossible and break through what seemed like a blade made entirely of energy despite how doomed he clearly was.

"Wait, is that..." Before Tatsumi could finish his sentence, he watched as the former imperial, without a shred of care, thrust her arm forward and just like that, the weapon felt almost as though a massive invisible fist had come crashing into his face and was promptly sent FAR back on the battlefield, his massive body dragging across the ground for a few seconds before he finally stopped himself using his weapon as a form of leverage, much to his assailant's lack of care which Mine found especially disturbing.

"Esdeath?" Najenda began with disbelief. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be..." The general smirked.

"Did you really think I would fall for that little stunt when I could already sense your energy? I guess our last fight has driven you far more mad than I realized." As she continued on, Najenda couldn't help but notice the drastic change in Esdeath's appearance. Gone was the tan uniform, boots and cap and in its place was one that, while bearing some form of resemblance to her old look was definitely far more formal with the matte black jacket, her dark boots and the small patch which was that of a small red logo on her shoulder. Not only that but her cap was completely gone which revealed more of her face and it was there where she could see those yellow eyes.

Those piercing yellow eyes, lined with a slight hint of blood red were some of the most terrifying things that she had ever seen as no matter how many times she'd glance at them, she could just feel the seething hatred burning into her soul though that could also partially be due to her brand new weapon which kept the rapier motif but instead of being a thin metal blade, in its place was a dark crimson beam of energy that had a slight resemblance to the shots that Mine would fire though the only difference was the low hum that it gave off, as if the weapon itself was flowing with life.

And yet the main reason was none of those things, the exact thing that caught the leader's attention and quickly became something for her to fear was the general's aura. Being around Esdeath for so long, the boss couldn't help but feel that she was an expert in being able to track the general purely by her presence alone and often times would express how considering she knew her best, she would prefer if she was allowed to be the one who ultimately put her down as the history they had was just far too great. Not only that but she also felt that even if Esdeath's energy were to suddenly change, it couldn't possibly get any worse since knowing her, there was a clear limit to how far she would go.

This energy she felt on the other hand, it was NOT Esdeath.

Even with the slight resemblance it bared, even with how the person it belonged to looked like her, everything else felt completely new and most frightening of all, it felt far darker, far more sinister, like whatever happened to Esdeath in the time since their last encounter, it was clear that what little humanity she possessed beforehand was gone and in its place was something truthfully monstrous. As she thought this, she watched as her former partner's smirk formed into a grin.

"At least you're putting the pieces together," The general began. "and at a far quicker pace than I imagined, bravo." The boss's eye widened with disbelief, realizing that her opponent was truthfully more than meets the eye.

"What are you talking about?" Leone growled, taking advantage of the silence. In response, the former imperial let out a small chuckle.

"I thought it would be quite simple, what you see before you is not the weak fool you called Esdeath..." With that final word, the warrior spun her weapon around for a moment before eventually she thrust it out to the side.

"Rather, I am the mistress of the Knights, warrior of the Dark Side, by the wisdom of his training, I am... Vitani Ren." And just like that dead silence filled the air and for the first time since their very first battle, Night Raid had no idea exactly what to expect with the sniper in particular, upon realizing the change of plans, muttered to herself quietly.

"It's a trap."

* * *

 _Author's Addendum:_

 **Before I go, I would just like to mention that I do plan on having a full list of all the references I made at the very end of all this in a comprehensive list and I just wanted to point out a little detail that's quick and easy to miss.  
**

 **For those who pay attention to the FN series numbers and by that I mean in particular the extras which have been so far, you might've noticed something with the numbers and for those who don't hear are what they mean:**

 **FN-6776 - A nod to my good friend CC-6776.**

 **FN-1138 - A reference to THX 1138, George Lucas's student film.**

 **FN-5257 - A reference to the original release date of A New Hope, May 25, 1977.**

 **FN-2180 - A reference to the original release date of Empire Strikes Back, May 21, 1980.**

 **FN-2577 - Another reference to A New Hope's original release date.**

 **FN-2583 - A reference to the original release date of Return of the Jedi, May 25, 1983.**

 **Though the references don't even stop at Star Wars, as you might've noticed with the First Order's tech, I've added a small upgrade in the form of the high impact boots which were developed by Veval Newell, a weapons specialist for the group and for those who've played Portal 2, you might know a certain other pair of boots called the Long Fall Boots.**

 **This was an idea I've had for a little while and I felt now was a cool way to implement it. My main inspiration for the scene mainly came from the moment in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated film when Anakin and Rex dive down to face the Ocutuptarra magna tri-droid as well as sessions in Battlefront II where I would dive headfirst into gunfire and face the onslaught of enemies on my own. That and since TFA had that one red droid that resembled something from Portal and when considering the boots fit the First Order aesthetic, I just felt that a version of them made a perfect fit in this little fanfic universe I'm creating.**

 **With that said, thank you so much and I will see you around next chapter.**


	20. Chapter 20

( _Imperial Capital_ )

"Repeat after me, I swear this sacred oath that I shall render unconditional obedience to Supreme Leader Snoke, to exercise every power in service to the First Order, and shall, whensoever I am asked, be prepared, as a loyal servant, to surrender my life for this regime and that I will continue to remain with it for the rest of my days and will never defect." The combined voices of Hux and Seryu echoed throughout the halls at volumes far louder than before now that most of the staff and guards were gone, a particular detail that a certain shimmering captain noticed as she marched down the hall, looking around her with every step she took at the few Stormtroopers who were lined up against the wall, standing up straight with weapons ready to fry any soul who dared to try and trespass.

When compared to the surprise of Hux, Phasma's reaction to the capital came down to a simple "I don't care." which some of the lesser troopers of course, didn't understand with some of them cracking jokes about how she only cared about her armor, jokes that she couldn't be bothered to deal with as the veterans they had present shut them up almost immediately. Though there were a few who did have legitimate questions regarding this as they were also taken aback by how the structure was and her reply would always be the same.

"If you've ever been to as many planets as I have then you would know that beauty is just a mere facade unless its there to make a statement." She of course was referring to technical marvels such as the Finalizer which on a visual level was one beauty of a warship that troopers often couldn't help but gush over. In Phasma's case, she mostly found herself appreciating it because like how her chromium armor served as a symbol for the might of the previous Galactic Empire, the Finalizer gave a chilling reminder to the galaxy, a reminder that no matter how many times they would try to ignore it, the shaking of their bodies served as a way of telling them how impossible it truthfully was.

The Finalizer reminded the galaxy that like a starving Rancor, the First Order can never be kept down for long and that they still had a tightly wound grip on all systems in their path.

Speaking of the systems, unlike the grand majority of staffers who constantly complained about how Ren's invasion was poorly planned, ridiculous and that they should still be dealing with the Resistance, all factors that she agreed with in some way, the captain just couldn't bring herself to care one bit about the whole thing and has gone on record many times as saying that if there was one thing that would make her upset, it's if Stormtroopers purposefully refuse to follow orders out of protest for the whole mission like that one rebel from years back who complained about how the TIE fighters apparently needed a bit more "flair" and for those that tried that, the muffled sound of a lightsaber igniting and the sight of Ren and Phasma casually leaving the premises that followed gave troopers an idea on why this wasn't something to do.

To Phasma, unless it was something that interfered with her own job, she just simply couldn't bring herself to care about something as minor as a plan change and instead did what she felt most staffers needed to take part in and actually tried to make the best of it.

Not only that but the plan provided something that she has been desperately wanting from the very moment Starkiller Base was destroyed, something that she was sure most troopers could relate to.

She desired relief.

To many troopers, Phasma wasn't exactly one to get enraged or scream like Ren or Hux did so one could only imagine their complete surprise when during the training sessions that followed, she was FAR more unforgiving of failure, often ragging on recruits for even the most minor of mistakes and occasionally would go as far as to beat them down with a baton in order to show an "example" of how weak a soldier could be. To those who were uninformed, the captain simply looked and sounded as though she had gone insane from years of failure in the Galactic Empire and that she needed to be booted as soon as possible. But to those who were aware of what happened on Starkiller involving the renegade FN-2187, two smugglers and a trash compactor, it was very easy to sympathize with the change in attitude since as many troopers found, they most likely would've done the same and instead of worrying about their commander's sudden change in attitude, they focused more of their efforts on bettering their skills as soldiers.

However, what they didn't know was that this change in behavior was just a small phase as soon after the first village raid and the recruiting of the Four Rakshasa Demons in spite of how she felt about them, Phasma felt as her nerves relaxed in almost an instant, something that continued to repeat itself as time continued to be spent on the planet and just recently with the recruitment of Esdeath, the destruction of Wild Hunt as well as the fall of the Empire, at long last was Phasma's soul almost completely purged of all the anger and humiliation she felt back on Starkiller and while the death of the traitor would certainly be the last step she'd want to take, she knew that it was highly unlikely that it would happen anytime soon and so she decided that she might as well make herself at home while Hux prepped Seryu into the conditioned soldier they expected her to be.

Speaking of the girl, it was due to both the quiet nature of the long hallways she marched down and how recent the event was that the captain couldn't help but reflect on how like Esdeath, the girl known as Seryu was very quick to turn over which might've had something to do with her reaction to both Honest's supposed traitorous nature which she assumed was simply just a matter of Hux stretching the truth as well as her tragic past that involved the deaths of two imperials who were very close to her, those being the strong, quick-witted Ogre and the obsessive but extremely intelligent Stylish. Of course, Phasma knew nothing of these two men, their accomplishments or their personal lives but if there was one thing she could very much relate to, it was the loss of friends and comrades.

While the First Order did believe in the idea that the weak should be left behind while the strong were left to push on, the captain had more than one case where she was struck with grief at a soldier's passing or near death experience, starting with the only trooper who she raised as not just a Stormtrooper but as a son of her own, the highly skilled FN-2199. Even to that day, she still could remember the jolt of relief she felt once she found that the soldier had made a full recovery and how in the moments leading up to that, she checked up on him every few minutes and at a frequency far higher than when compared to any other injured trooper.

With this particularly in mind combined with the amount of willingness she showed in wanting to work with them, both Captain Phasma and General Hux showed no opposition to the girl joining up and felt that it would work more to strengthen the First Order rather than weaken it and if Vitani's words were true about the Jaegers being one of the most proficient fighting forces in all of the capital, she had nothing but the highest of hopes for Seryu and what she could accomplish in both the near and far futures.

Both of which were what she was currently making preparations for as Hux oversaw the training of the girl though she did have a communicator on hand in the case that what she finds in the structure is considered interesting enough to show him.

Thinking back to the days of the Galactic Empire and more specifically, the first few days that followed the initial Jedi Purge, one of the many, MANY issues that they met in that era was the sheer amount of Jedi they let slip through their fingers as well as the unfortunate lack of foresight for any and all possible contingencies, weapons and people that might've been hidden on other worlds which led to some of the most embarrassing failures ever suffered in the history of the prosperous dictatorship such as the rumored discovery of a Force-sensitive on Kashyyyk that led to the loss of both a TIE fighter construction factory and a Star Destroyer, a MASSIVE gathering of Jedi on the planet Kessel and of course, the planet of Wayland which had a twisted clone of a Jedi Master attempt to murder the then recently promoted Grand Admiral Thrawn and his cohort Gilad Pellaeon whose son would later go to serve the First Order after his age caught up to him during both C'baoth's final stand and an assassination attempt on Thrawn that she thankfully thwarted. Fortunately, the clone was brought down but at the cost of losing over thirty soldiers, a mistake that cost the Empire dearly and soon would become yet another example of one of the many improvements the Order needed to make which was to give a location a clean sweep through all its various cracks in the hopes of finding something that could be useful to them.

As she continued her trek down the cold, shimmering hallways, the captain couldn't help but note the light but still incredibly apparent trembling from within her chest, a feeling that while not exactly alien to all troopers which included her, it was due to the rarity of it in her case that made it somewhat unnerving. The closest comparison that could be drawn being when Kylo Ren set foot on the Finalizer just moments after a Resistance pilot made a daring escape with their prisoner Ackbar in tow which left him both with no subject for interrogation and a permanent mark on her records as it was her very first offense and regardless of how minor it might've been, the feeling of dread that sat in the pit of her stomach as she made her way to the bridge to discuss with Hux that day was more than enough to make her feel for it and with how the set-up went to this, she couldn't help but be reminded of it all over again.

Though this time, the feeling of dread was more a small combination of unnerve and curiosity as the walls of the base continued to be drained of color (at least, in her eyes), the voices of Hux and Seryu quickly fading with the last sound she heard being what seemed to be doors opening followed up by the beginning to a sentence that sounded quite robotic, a tone that fit Kylo very well.

After several more minutes of walking, she came across at the very end of it all a "complete" dead-end as at the very least, while everything did seem to stop there, the door that lined the wall said otherwise though Phasma couldn't quite put her finger on what made everything so odd, to the point where she felt chills and goosebumps running up her flesh especially with something so plain with the only difference it had compared to the rest being the words that were inscribed on it that read "ONLY FOR EMPEROR'S USAGE!" which seemed to indicate that there was something behind it all that was of grave importance.

Grave importance that was in no way at all being guarded by anyone.

For someone like Phasma who had spent several years teaching all troopers to guard whatever the First Order may possess with their lives no matter the item or cost, it was especially shocking to see something like this which most likely would be a major game-changer in the war, essentially left out for grabs like they were intentionally trying to taunt someone into trying it. Then again, this was located in the deepest catacombs of the structure as she had to travel down several flights of stairs just to reach it all and at the moment, the Empire wasn't quite around the area anymore, presumably due to both Vitani's orders and the threat they possessed.

Regardless, it still was odd.

"If my troopers were the one who did this, Commander Ren would've had their heads by now." The captain thought, one hand lightly grasping the chin-piece of her armor as she continued to lean in closer for examination. "I'm not sure if the prime minister was just that stupid or if we were the cause of all this." After a few more seconds of looking, the small panel suddenly began to slide inward, letting off a low hum in very much the same manner as the Finalizer much to the captain's shock.

"So the capital does possess at least SOME form of mechanics." Phasma thought with interest. "But why does no one recognize the TIE fighters as machine? Were they just intentionally hiding i-" Just like that, everything immediately froze in the blink of an eye as soon as the trooper set foot into the room and set her eyes upon something that was being eerily lit up in green, almost as though she was stepping foot into the Death Star's reactor room.

Though what really caught her attention was the faint red glow going on beneath the structure, a red glow that seemed to pulsate and glow, very much in a similar manner to a... Kyber crystal. Almost immediately, the captain's hand made a mad dash for her communicator, clicking it to life as soon as she had it level with her face, not even bothering to wait for General Hux to completely come into view before she let it out.

"Sir, I think you might want to come and see this." Phasma said, paying no mind to how the light gave a faint reflection on the absolutely gigantic black structure in the center of the room.

* * *

( _Undisclosed Pathway_ )

"The path to the Dark Side, fear is, to anger fear leads, to hate anger leads, to suffering hate leads. Tatsumi, let go of your rage, you must. On its own, harmless it is but let it control your actions, overwhelm you the darkness will." Despite having left him a few moments earlier, Tatsumi could hear the old green being's words clear as day in the back of his mind, constantly looping as though it were a tape recorder though considering the words were being said at all, it was almost as though the man could sense the distress he possessed right then as he continued to stare down the former imperial, her smirk seeming to mock him more and more with every passing second with Najenda's presence only seeming to make it far worse along with a third, unseen force that he couldn't quite pinpoint the location of.

Not only that but it didn't help much when he found himself simply not understanding what Yoda was trying to say with whenever he'd try to mentally probe for answers being met simply with the same phrase about how he needed to find it out on his own, something he had absolutely NO time to do at that current moment.

Thankfully Vitani or as he would always come to know her, Esdeath was feeling more than a little generous that day, presumably due to the power she possessed and was waiting rather patiently for one of them to make the first move, her eyes locked on them the whole way through though more specifically, it was mostly Najenda and him that her sight was shifting between and with the way her gaze locked on him with her face curving into a twisted grin that showed a terrifying mixture of both love and betrayal, it became rather clear to him that she knew who exactly was lying behind the mask and despite him being behind that suit of armor, he couldn't help but feel his heart beginning to quicken in its beat which only served to anger him even more, fueling his hatred for the former general to the point where it reached near absurd levels.

Before Kylo Ren, there was no one in that world that he hated with the exact amount of passion as he did Esdeath with the little bit of time he spent with her certainly not helping much with every time he thought back to it leaving him with regret about how he believed he could convince her to fight on their side only to find that unlike psychos such as Seryu or the sensible, somewhat unfitting kind-hearts such as Wave, Esdeath could best be described as being the pure physical and mental embodiment of pain and suffering which was only strengthened by his time with her on the island and how his predictions were all proven to be horribly wrong once she gave her backstory.

Being that he lived in a rather reclusive village, it wasn't until that point in time where the boy finally realized just how sick and twisted the Empire really was as unlike most people, Esdeath wasn't just someone who was only working to provide for her family or believed in the cause, she was also the only warrior he ever met who developed nothing but praise and love for every horrific act that she committed, having it be a long-standing tradition within her family's belief system to the point where not even the death of her own father was something she looked back on with sorrow which unfortunately served to make that nickname of ice queen all the more fitting.

Though what was especially sickening was how now, she did it all for him.

Every bone she broke, every drop of blood she drew, she stated that from the point she met him onward that it would all be for him as a showcase of her undying love, a love that he knew he would never return but he was nevertheless terrified of. Just the very thought, the very idea that someone could and actually would go this far all for the purpose of showcasing their admiration for someone they cared about was completely and utterly disturbing with the only thing that could possibly top it or at the very least be considered on the same level for him being if someone did things like this in order to show admiration for the horrific mistakes that their family might've made in their past but regardless, it didn't change this one fact.

Esdeath to him was already a disturbing individual, even before her so-called transformation into "Vitani Ren" ever took place.

Speaking of the name, just hearing that last portion was more than enough to get the boy's grip on his weapon tightening up even more to the point where his palms were beginning to sweat despite it only being a few minutes though if he had to be honest, it felt more as though whole entire months had gone by as the dead silence with the only exception being the easy to ignore and incredibly faint moans that were going off in the distance was almost excruciating to go through with the only occasions that it had been broken being due to an uneasy cough or an occasional taunt by Vitani which served only to have him fuming even more.

That last name, that was the exact same last name of the one who murdered his family, the one who he swore was going to be pounded into the ground by him. All in all, he should've already been lunging towards the former imperial, sword in hand, ready to slice her in two but as Yoda's voice just wouldn't end, he simply couldn't bring himself to do it, the only reason his brain had being that this was a terrifying situation that he should escape more than he should fight which only enraged him even more as it showed that despite having spent several days toughening himself up, being told that he should expect death at any given time, he still possessed the same primal fear for the warrior.

"Why can't I do this?" Tatsumi asked himself. "I've killed Danger Beasts, dueled with several imperials and I've lost four friends, why is it that I'm still weak?" Just like that, the green man's voice finally ceased much to the boy's relief... only to then find his very soul being shaken right as another voice, unfamiliar to any of the previous he had heard but keeping to a low growl took its place.

"Your emotions betray you." It sounded off. "You're still holding back when all you need is to let go." Slowly, in a move that was not at all spurred on by his own will, the boy's eyes slowly traced over all his comrades (with the obvious exceptions of both Mine and Chelsea) one by one until his gaze set upon the eyepatch wearing face of his leader, the voice playing back once more.

"They don't understand your grief, your emotion, all they see is a ripe young slave who they can push as much as they desire." The boy's rage began to boil right as his mind flashed through all of what had happened to him so far. Aside from Mine and Akame, not a single member of Night Raid seemed to show even a shred of care for what he had to go through.

"Remember how you felt when you lost your friends, how much you wanted to rightfully avenge their deaths, how you wanted to bring peace to the world... and how they stopped you." The young one soon found himself shifting his gaze towards Vitani, their sights locking one another right as the low growl moved on.

"Yes, that's the same exact warrior who's behind all this, isn't she?" Tatsumi gave a subtle nod, almost as though the voice came from a real person that was right there with him. "The same one who leads this regime, the one who destroyed most of what the people hold dear. You know her don't you?" His teeth began to grit.

"She's the one responsible for most of the Empire's most horrific acts, the same acts your group swears that it wants to protect and yet, it keeps refusing the help." It was at this time that Najenda took notice of the boy's slight vengeful twitches, her experience telling her that this was nothing but bad news.

"Don't." Najenda said rather hoarsely. Ignoring her, the boy just continued to focus on what was going on in his head.

"They've talked for hours and hours on end about how they were striving to rid the world of corruption and anarchy and yet they cause it like a sad bunch of hypocrites."

"Don't engage." The commander sounded off, watching as Tatsumi lowered into a fighting stance.

"They've led you to believe they are heroes who only want to protect the world at large and yet..."

"Don't try it." Right then, everything went dead silent, the only sound being heavy equipment slightly shaking as Bols got into his fighting stance, ready to defend his commander if need be as well as shuffling feet coming from Kurome who was slowly backing way out of fear and a few seconds later, the voice finally concluded, the last portion sounding eerily robotic but not at all like the voice of the one named Vader that kept haunting his dreams.

"They continue to slaughter the masses like the Empire with their only difference being that it's for a different cause, almost as though they understand that order sometimes can only be achieved through violence, the very thing they dislike. Tell me, does that sound hypocritical to you?" A few seconds passed when Tatsumi mentally gave his answer and just as Najenda's hand was inches from his shoulder, he suddenly with a roar lunged toward Vitani, weapon drawn back, ready to strike, the sound of the voice bringing a smile to her lips.

"So at long last you see my love..."

"Oh no you don't!" Bols shouted as he rushed into the fray, weapon locked, loaded and held by his hips. In a display that Vitani thought would be beautiful to any and all Sith, she watched as the boy without any second thought or care thrust his shoulder outward, using his strength to smash straight into the masked man, the sheer force being so great that he not only fell to the ground but much to the shock of his teammates, his weapon came flying a short distance before slamming back down behind them with the boy just continuing to move on as though he was unaware of his actions and instead focused on bringing his weapon up over his head, a sight that didn't phase the former imperial one bit.

"The Dark Side is the only path to peace." As soon as the thought concluded, the boy with another growl brought his sword down hard, ready to strike her bare milky flesh only to then be angered even more when he saw that it had instead crashed into her piercing red blade which she thrust upward, pushing him away ever so slightly, giving her the opening. Taking it with grace and pleasure, the warrior then thrust her arm forward and in a move that eerily resembled what she did to Susanoo, Night Raid watched as the boy was flung straight into the air, traveling in a perfectly straight line for a brief couple seconds until he immediately stopped himself and looked down with white-hot fury at his assailant. Seeing as though there was no better alternative in sight, Najenda with much regret, gave the order right as she charged forward.

"ATTACK!" With a sadistic gleam in her eye, Vitani watched as Night Raid came rushing to the boy's aid with weapons held high, ranging from simple fists to razor sharp threads, all of which when compared to the simple elegance of the lightsaber and the Force, was mere child's play to her. A few seconds later, Tatsumi charged downward, his eyes once again locked on the former imperial but just as he was inches away and right as a flash of blue light went as soon as it came, a warrior dressed in blue and black armor tackled him into the wall behind him, a sizable crater soon appearing following the impact.

"If you want the commander, you're going to go through me!" Wave shouted through grit teeth, forearm pushing the white suit of armor down into its spot which was quite easy to perform at first given how Grand Chariot was the armor that followed Incursio or at least, he assumed it was judging by the sleeker, thin design. However that all changed once he felt a sharp spike of pain in his lower abdomen, causing his grip to loosen which Tatsumi then followed up with a rising uppercut to the jaw, sending him up into the sky where he soon gave chase and before he could even recover, the man could only watch as a two hands clamped together slammed straight into his face, shattering the defensive film right before he came hurtling into the ground, his impact being noted by the large amount of dust and rocks that were kicked up.

The aching in his joints being too great to bear, Wave could only make a few light groans as he slowly lifted himself out of the crater, his hand instinctively rubbing his side, only to then stop once his fingers made contact with something slightly fleshy which caused his gaze to jerk downward. Even in his strained state, the man still managed to express some degree of surprise once he spotted the small but noticeable crack in his body armor, the exposed flesh showcasing a rather nasty red gash.

A gash that shouldn't have been possible in any way given how in their last encounter, Tatsumi wasn't able to land much of anything on him and with how he looked outside of it all, it only drove his point home even further.

"How could h-" His instincts kicking in, Wave immediately jerked backward, watching how a few seconds later, a blurred white mass came slamming into the crater before proceeding to charge straight towards him, the yellow eyes almost seeming to stab into his soul as he drew his fist back. Ready to go on the offensive, the man straightened himself out right as the boy's fist was just inches away and with only his reflexes to guide him, he quickly jerked his body out of the fist's path and struck back with a brutal elbow to the face which sent Tatsumi flying into the rocky surface. His recovery coming in the span of seconds, the armored warrior planted his feet against the wall, the force of his landing causing it to crack right before proceeding to lunge forward where as soon as the two met, it devolved into a blurry black and white display of furious punches, kicks, blocks and clashes which was nearly identical to what was occurring with Vitani and Night Raid though there were slight differences.

With a series of graceful flips, jumps and sways, Vitani was easily outmaneuvering everything they could throw at her whether it be Leone's fists, Lubbock's threads or the occasional strikes by Najenda, the only one who seemed to keep up with her as she for the most part found herself having to only block her strikes compared to the rest though that could be due to the priorities she had at the moment.

Considering that not a single one of them had the Force or even a lightsaber, Vitani knew that without much trouble, she could easily end the fight with a few well-timed strokes and especially if she combined it all with her ice powers and Force abilities but of course, she wasn't exactly that type of fighter. She'd fight dirty if need be but what she found both most humorous and shocking in this very moment was how not a single person was able to land a hit on her and how despite the clear ease for her to dodge it all, they still were fighting on as though they could win which soon led to a sudden revelation that had the ice queen most pleased.

Even with her skill back then, something like this was considered a MASSIVE impossibility before she embraced Dark Side as with the few times she came across opponents such as Najenda or other defectors, she had to admit that there were a few occasions where she simply was caught off-guard or in the case of Najenda back when she had no missing limbs, was able to be matched blow for blow to the point where she couldn't help but consider her an equal. With the Dark Side that coursed through her veins on the other hand, that made everything an entirely different story.

In the few seconds following the initial charge, Vitani found herself being met with attacks coming from all possible directions at every corner with every single one of them being dodged or countered with as much grace and elegance as that of a dancer at speeds so incredibly fast that most mortals couldn't even tell that she moved and instead only saw a blurred blotch of colors, a feat that from what the Force had told her, had been notable as it was achieved by Darth Tyrannus, a 70 year old man way beyond his prime which came only from his years and years of training and yet here she was achieving it all the same with only a few days worth to go off of.

Then again, the opponents she was facing certainly were no Jedi who as the Force also suggested, were Tyrannus's foes for the most part and not ones the average warrior, especially those who are untrained, should be messing with unless they were looking to lose a limb.

A thought that gave her quite the idea.

Her eyes being set on the blonde, Vitani halted her usual flips and sways and without warning, jerked her hand outward, sending both the green-haired man and Akame crashing into the rocky wall and repeated the motion for Najenda, leaving only Susanoo and the aforementioned Leone to contend with which certainly wasn't going to be easy given how difficult it was to use the Force on multiple targets which according to Kylo, can very quickly wear a person down if the risks weren't taken into proper consideration. Something that she felt almost immediately as sweat began to drip down her face, her body feeling slightly strained and as though two different energy sources were pulling at each half of her body.

Though the sight of her former partner's face struggling to fight back combined with her penchant for quick fights was certainly more than enough to keep her going though the immature taunts helped as well.

"Dark Side or not, you're going to become nothing but mush on my fists!" Leone shouted, her sharp tongue cracking like a whip. Paying no mind to it, Vitani gave a small smirk right as she thrusted her arm forward. Her reflexes kicking in, the blonde leaped into the air, watching with a concerned expression as a single MASSIVE wave of ice came bursting from the ground, sending several boulders into the air and leaving nothing for her comrades to see but a mass of blue.

"That was way too close!" Leone commented. "If I was a few seconds off that would've been the end." Her focus was soon shaken by what seemed like the shattering of the sound barrier, indicating that Susanoo was already on the attack, heading straight towards the former imperial with weapon ready to go with the latter already charging towards him with a smirk on her face which spelled nothing but trouble. Without hesitation, the blonde jumped back into the fray as well and started swinging, the warrior being able to dodge just about every strike with there only being a handful of occasions that her lightsaber was used to defend against Susanoo's strikes. Eyes wide open as she continued to casually bat away strikes, the dark warrior carefully looked over the two as much as she could, searching for whatever possible opening there was to take. A practice that was almost immediately noticed by the commander down below who could just barely tell what was going on.

"They need to realize that she's toying with them." Najenda said mentally. "The way they're fighting right now with synchronization, that's all fine but they don't realize that without the entire team, she's without a doubt going to crush them.

"Not if I can help it." Startled, the commander looked up, her features soon softening once she saw a familiar sniper aiming her weapon into the air. "As soon as I get the shot, I'll take it."

"Mine you don't understand, Esdeath is..."

"I don't care what the hell she went through, all that matters to me is that she's going to become a burnt pile of flesh in just a few moments." As Pumpkin began whirring to life, the boss let out a frustrated sigh and continued to watch the battle which had moved to the top of the gigantic ice barrier. A few seconds later, just as she was twirling in between the pair's strikes, Vitani caught just a split-second glimpse of both a bright yellow light that was pulsating with energy as well as a blurred mass of darkness that looked and felt familiar, so much so that she couldn't help but grin right as she put her strategy into motion.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, the dark warrior used the might of the Force to toss both the sniper and the massive weapon backward like paper airplanes and just as Leone thrust her fist outward, Najenda saw it all unfold in a flash of red followed by screams of both pain and shock. One moment, the blonde's face was filled with the drive to fight, ready to tear one of Vitani's limbs off. All of that was quickly replaced in the span of a few seconds by contortions of agony as she dropped to her knees, grasping at the burning stump near her forearm as the rest came dropping down in front of the boss's face.

Her expression still the same, the dark warrior let this horrific sight linger for just a few moments longer, taking in the sound of a concerned shout in the distance that was immediately silenced by what clearly seemed like a fist colliding with a face which soon had the pleasure of being followed up by the much closer shout of the towering Susanoo leaping towards her, exactly as she anticipated. With moves as graceful and uncaring as the most skilled Sith of yesteryear and with the last bit of strength she had before she would have to drop the two of them, Vitani flicked her wrist, watching as the hulking behemoth came lurching forward, grip loosening on his weapon which came slamming into the ice just seconds later. Enraged, the blonde was ready to steel through the ice cold spike of pain and lunge forward when her vision was filled with the dark leathery material of the former imperial's boot which sent her flying backwards, her body sliding across the blue surface for a few seconds before she finally stopped herself though it couldn't have come at a worse time.

With all her might, Vitani gripped Susanoo by the neck, using the Force to keep him suspended in mid-air as he continued to struggle and pull in a desperate attempt to free himself. A sight that was rather unexpected but hilarious nonetheless to Vitani just to see a warrior as broad and powerful as Susanoo at the mercy of her power with no way to get out of it.

Well, at least no way for him on his own to get out of it.

After all, Susanoo was not just some random figure with horns, the man was one of the few cases of a living Imperial Arms which meant that it, like all that came before it, had a trump card that if activated by the user, meant nothing but trouble for the poor soul who had to be at the receiving end of it all. Of course, it hadn't exactly been tested on Force-users such as herself but still, it wasn't exactly something she was willing to figure out, especially when considering that the living Imperial Arms on her team, Koro was already so unbelievably powerful with his trump card.

Which made her Force-senses all the more useful as it took little more than a few seconds to discover the MASSIVE gathering of energy that lay behind his chest, pulsating almost like a human heart.

"Susanoo! Use your trump c-" Najenda felt the words trailing off almost immediately once she saw the piercing hot blade embedding itself deep within Susanoo's chest which was exactly where his core laid. The massive figure's eyes widened with shock as all sound seemed to drain from the area, his last sight being Vitani's grinning face with her piercing yellow eyes staring daggers into him. A few seconds later, she leaned in close, her voice lowering to that of a whisper.

"Long live the First Order." Not being able to choke out a single reply, Susanoo felt the life drain from his body as soon as Vitani retracted her saber, her next and final movement being her kicking the mass of flesh away from her without a shred of remorse leaving the rest of Night Raid along with the Jaegers staring with eyes filled with grief and shock with Najenda in particular feeling as her jaw slacked and for the first time in a long, long while, a single tear dropped from her eye. Releasing her hold, Vitani watched with joy as the warriors dropped to the ground, making no attempt to fight her in any way and instead, they continued to just stare at her "handiwork" which was sprawled out on his stomach right next to Akame who was noticeably filled with fright.

The only member who didn't share these feelings being Leone whose teeth were grit with her golden eyes being filled to the brim with the flames of hatred. A few seconds later, in a move that broke the silence, the blonde with a loud hearty roar punched the icy floor beneath them, the force of which causing the thing to shatter into a million shards with the only decently sized piece being the nice piece of footing underneath the former imperial who immediately abandoned it the moment she noticed every member charging for her at full force, the only absences being Mine who quickly realized the impossibility of it all and let her fear take control, making a break for it and Chelsea who was nowhere to be found. As the fight quickly devolved into the usual flurry of red, green and whatever other color there was, the moves this time being less graceful and lined far more with the urge to kill, Kurome couldn't help but look up, face completely filled with fear as she continued to cradle the injured Bols.

Esdeath was certainly a warrior to be wary of, that much she knew when she joined the Jaegers and from all the times she had seen her in action, that fact was only reinforced. At no point did she expect that someone like her would get even more frightening and despite being on what she assumed was the same side, it was at that very moment that all of what Wave said had hit her like a ton of bricks.

At what point did assisting civilians mean they had to murder those like dogs? At what point did they say that when they signed up that they should prepare to watch a man be stabbed without remorse or care? At WHAT point did joining the Empire mean that they had to join up with a ruthless unknown band of dictators whose goals clearly were not at all in line with what theirs were and were instead locked on mainly supporting themselves? All this and more was cycling through her mind with every time being the same in that there was not an answer but a realization.

"I see now why you joined with Night Raid." Kurome thought to herself, her eyes locked on her sister clashing with Vitani. "All this time I've been trying to figure out why you would leave your little sister behind, why you would leave a nice comfortable existence in order to become a fugitive." As she continued on, various memories of the two of them together slicing through opposition came to mind. "I wondered why you would just shatter your promise to protect me like that, why you would even split up." Her eyelid began to twitch and a few seconds later, a single tear trailed down her cheek. "For the next few nights before I went to sleep, I spent hours on end searching for you, wanting to find out why only to end up with nothing which left me returning to my bed with a face full of tears with every dream I had being about you and it all ended with the same question. Why? Why did you leave me? Why did you leave your one and only sibling cold and alone?!" Being so wrapped up in the moment, the dark feeling she felt in the pit of her stomach was ignored along with a low voice that sounded slightly robotic but wasn't enough to catch her attention.

"After several months, my feelings then changed." The faint noise of rocks crumbling underneath boots came seconds later. "No longer was it about how I wanted to bring you back but rather... it was about how I was going to spill your blood onto the soil." Kurome's gaze lowered down to her still unconscious comrade, her mind picturing her sister's head being cradled instead of Bols. "The weird thing is, I did so because I believed that. I believed in all that junk about how the Empire was going to save us all, I almost completely ignored the corruption, the horrific acts of violence, the torture, the burnings, I ignored all that and more because I was taught to believe that all of this was necessary in order to achieve true peace." A few seconds later, Kurome couldn't help but realize the odd irony of it all. All the time she spent away from Akame was time she spent constantly telling herself about how she was truthfully acting so immature and so stupid, feeling as though she was better suited to be the little sister as she was the only one who was believed to have left the Empire all because she simply couldn't get used to the policies and on their one and only encounter prior to now, she tried her hardest to sway her over to the Revolutionary Army because she wanted to apparently save her from a life that was just far too dangerous to live and yet, she refused because she couldn't learn to forgive...

Exactly in the same way a little sister can't forgive a big sister, a thought that brought a small smirk to the warrior's face.

"I guess all this time, you really were the big sister still trying to look out for me." Unbeknownst to her, a dark mysterious gloved arm was slowly reaching out above her. "I guess I never should've doubted myself, after all you were the only one who understood me as well as you did." Right then, a deep robotic voice sounded off.

"You're wrong." Before she could react, Kurome felt as her entire body was flung up into the air, her body making a rather rapid bee line towards the ground below with the shadowy figure at the top only being a blur as her focus was currently shaken up, her only action being to scream out in fear which caught the attention of a certain someone who was immediately taken advantage of by a quick brutal fist to the stomach by Vitani, a move that impressed the figure somewhat. A few seconds later before she could collide with the ground, both her training and enhancements kicked in and with a bit of skillful acrobatics, Kurome felt as her feet planted themselves hard on the ground, her arm rushing for her sword and her eyes darting to glare at her attacker, only to feel a sudden knot of terror form in both her throat and stomach.

Standing before her, in the flesh with not a single visual trick to be had was a tall masked figure, the exact same masked figure that haunted her nightmares, the exact same masked figure who was brought to mind every time the name "Kylo Ren" was said out loud, the EXACT same masked figure that she and Wave both dreaded an encounter with, was present with arms crossed, every detail looking exactly as it did in her dreams right down to the shimmering metal that lined the mask and the hood that was draped over it all though in this case, this was no dream.

Unfortunately it was cold-hard reality.

Feeling the bravery drain from her very being, the swordswoman lost her balance and ended up falling flat on her back, being left to look up at the masked man who cocked his head to the side, seemingly out of interest, like he was actually waiting for this very day to come or that he was looking for a person like her. The silent wait quickly becoming unbearable, Kurome couldn't help but take note of the figure's energy which was radiating quite vibrantly with his presence being best summed up in three words.

Cold, empty and sinister, a very similar feeling to Esdeath but over seven times worse, especially with how the mask made it hard to tell if he was even man or machine. A few moments later, after seeming to check off something within his head, the dark figure stood up straight, his hands raising towards his helmet.

"I've finally found you at long last." As the fingers continued to tighten around the metal dome, Kurome couldn't help but feel a wave of confusion wash over her. She did receive confirmation that he was looking for her or at least, someone similar to her but with the way the robotic voice sounded, it was almost as though there was something more to it, like one of those hidden themes you can find in literature if you dig deep enough.

"F-Final-Finally f-f-f" As the mouth-plate raised up and the locking mechanisms loosened, Kylo couldn't help but give a small smirk behind the mask at how the swordswoman was just so frightened that she couldn't even get the words out very much in a similar fashion to when he first stopped the scavenger back on Takodana and how as she remained frozen in place, she refused to talk and instead let out a bunch of heavy breaths, clearly letting the fear overtake her. It also reminded him of two other times with the first being of FN-2187's face during their duel as he continued to back himself against a tree, his gaze set on his lightsaber or that time when he was sent to deal with the radar technician Matthew otherwise known as "Matt" for short who after causing some significant issues by pushing a trooper in the mess hall was personally "dealt with" after finding him to be nothing more than a deranged fanboy who he assumed was sent in by the Resistance to try and disrupt their progress as well as try their best to upload the schematics of Starkiller as he found a small up-link hooked up to one of the consoles prior to disposing of the body though really, what stuck out to him the most was the look of pure terror he had soon after he noticed his presence which spoke volumes about how he actually felt since he was so afraid, he could hardly get any words out and to see it repeat right then and now was certainly an amusing sight.

"Shhh... It's alright, I didn't even recognize you at first." Kylo soothed, his voice sounding slightly less robotic as the helmet came up over his head, revealing his scarred features to the swordswoman, whose eyes were intensely looking him over, every passing second seeming to fill her more and more with fright, especially when he dropped the helmet to the ground.

"But at long last we're together again." Kurome's eyes widened a bit more, the Dark Lord immediately responding by cocking an eyebrow upward, his voice trying its hardest to sound hurt. "That causes me so much pain, knowing you don't recognize me. Do you even know the name? Ben? Solo?" The swordswoman shook her head, the two words sounding just vaguely familiar but other than that, there was nothing that came to mind with the exception being that this was what Kylo's true name was... so why did she feel even MORE afraid than before?

"What are you talking about?" Realizing what might've happened, the Dark Lord set his arms behind his back.

"I guess the Empire never told you everything now did they?"

"Didn't tell me everything, wh-wh-what d-do you..."

"Tell me, do you know your last name?" Kurome's eyes widened more, dreading where this might take them. Swallowing it all just long enough, the warrior shook her head.

"Were you even sent with a last name?" Again she shook her head, leading the Dark Lord to start pacing towards her with the immediate reaction being to start backing up which oddly enough, he let her do.

"I should've expected as much, his smuggling skills certainly came in handy, too bad they couldn't save him or that mother couldn't be here." Feeling as though the truth was just resting right in the back of her mind, Kurome tried her hardest to push it from memory all while pleading, begging to the heavens that it all wasn't true that it was just an impossibility. But just like that, her fears were soon confirmed once the Dark Lord completed his sentence.

"But I guess a more intimate reunion between brother and sister is better than having none at all."

* * *

 _Author's Addendum:  
_

 **Yep, I went there, I dropped a massive bombshell that I'm sure some of you expected while others didn't.  
**

 **Hell, the one I did tell about the twist I purposefully let them get it wrong (which isn't bad at all due to my intentions.) since they guessed that Luke was the father but nope, now you know it here with the clues I gave which were a little on the nose admittedly as well as the nightmares which seemed to suggest a past meeting with Kylo Ren and well... now you know it here.**

 **In my story at least, Han and Leia had a trio of children those being Ben, Akame and Kurome Solo. Why did I do this? While I will save the real explanation for the end of the story, the simple reason was that I was paying homage to the Solo trio in the EU.**

 **Speaking of which, a few confirmations were given about how the Thrawn trilogy fit in and needless to say... I know everyone possibly is going to send me hate, just know that this is meant to be an AU and as I warned, I will be changing events to better fit what I want.**

 **Overall, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you next time and I especially want to know your thoughts on this one since it is quite packed.**


	21. Chapter 21

_Several Years Prior..._

( _Yavin IV_ )

Throughout its entire history and out of all worlds present on moons, the grassy forest world of Yavin IV had quite possibly some of the most interesting history ever seen by both Jedi and Sith alike. Of course, most know it as being the site of the first Death Star's destruction and the location of the very original base for the Rebel Alliance and for the most part, that was enough for people. But for those interested enough, for those who wanted to dig deeper, for those who were curious about the world's worn down almost ancient look, what they would uncover was a rich, vibrant history that dated all the way back to even the Old Republic era.

Not only was it the source of the original Death Star's destruction, it was also where Jedi of the ancient times were seduced to the Dark Side, where ancient Sith Lords fell, it was the site where the unfortunately maddened Jedi known as Revan fell in the waning days of the Galactic War and what was quite possibly the most notable fact of all, it was the site of a truthfully vicious duel between the likes of Anakin Skywalker and the Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress the scars of which where blades met the grass and trees could still be seen to this day. For some, this world was a magnificent treasure trove of history that should be preserved in the many years to come. For others, it was something that should be ignored like the plague especially when it came to it being a natural Dark Side nexus due to the several temple ruins present which were leftovers from the age of the very first Sith Empire.

For the former princess sitting in the co-pilot seat of a Corellian cruiser next to her very rugged husband, it was mixture of both.

On one hand, Leia couldn't help but get goosebumps every time she thought back to it, often finding herself chuckling about how they managed to win a battle like that against seemingly impossible odds and how frightened they had been when the then unknown Luke Skywalker switched off his targeting computer during one of the most intense, crucial moments of the battle, not knowing that he actually kept in touch with Obi-Wan long after he had fell to Vader's blade and considering the familial ties they discovered on Endor, it made the whole event all the more cathartic as the destruction of the Death Star was the PERFECT sight to see after witnessing how it destroyed her family home of Alderaan.

On the other, she also couldn't help but remember that this was the same exact place she lost the both of them. After the fall of the Empire, her brother had decided that the best spot to restart the new Jedi Order, the best spot to bring about an age of peace and tranquility was the same exact moon which was deeply entrenched in the Dark Side. Being a Force-sensitive herself, Leia never quite understood exactly why this was the case but considering how much he had grown from all his trips around the galaxy, learning more about the Force along with how important and difficult teaching truly was, she knew deep in her heart that there must've been one good reason for why this was. With that in mind, she simply left the man to his business, only occasionally checking up on him which soon became extremely stressful as every time she'd drop on by, he'd ALWAYS seem to have new info about how Ben was becoming dangerously infatuated with his grandfather and how she should keep an eye on any other child she may have, a fact she never was quite able to accept for the longest of times.

Even after the attack had taken place.

While there still was no confirmation as to who exactly did it, all she could remember on that one fateful day was how she was woken up late in the night by a message that when opened, showed her brother in a state that she never would've expected in her life. With a shaky voice, tears pouring from his reddened eyes and his rather unkempt composure, the Jedi Master was talking about how sorry he was for letting this happen, not bothering to explain what exactly occurred with every time he tried seeming to get him more and more choked up until eventually he just skipped it, mentioning that he was going to be exiling himself in his search for a Jedi Temple and that no one should dare to look for him until he was fully ready to come back.

Despite the several questions she still had, the overwhelming amount of sorrow and worry that she felt flood her senses was more than enough to keep these thoughts out of her head, a feeling that even managed to extend to her grizzled husband, the former smuggler turned general Han Solo who in a rare moment unseen by both her and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca, was one of the first to make the suggestion that they go on a massive search for her brother, despite his clear pleas about not wanting to be found. In spite of all that along with her pregnancy in later years, the general wholeheartedly agreed with the expedition and for the next couple of days after their two daughters were born, they would find themselves jumping to just about every planet that they believed Luke would've been on, requesting the assistance of old friends such as Lor San Tekka and Lando Calrissian to try and find something relating to his location and if it came down to it, she admitted that she might've been desperate enough to hire bounty hunters for the job.

Unfortunately, it seemed as though the will of the Force was more respectful of Luke's decision than they were as even with the near galaxy-wide search, they discovered a plentiful amount of relics and trinkets relating to the Force (one in particular being found during a solo mission that Leia was so terrified about that every time the name came off her tongue, shivers were sent down her spine.) but nothing that would lead them to the last Jedi. While the search continued for a plentiful amount of time with no one showing any signs of wanting to give up, it was definitely taking a toll on those involved, especially when it came to her husband.

From the very day they met, Han Solo was never what you would call a believer of the Force since as he put it, the idea of a mystical power that binds together the entire galaxy along with both good and evil was all just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo to him and when it came to the idea of the Jedi, Sith and even the lightsaber, he believed it even less. As he once famously said, hokey religions and ancient weapons were simply no match for a standard blaster in his eyes.

Oh how the times have changed.

While the man still hasn't quite learned to respect the Force in recent years, it was very clear that with all the exposure he received to it in the form of Obi-Wan who he named his son off of, Darth Vader and his casual absorption of blaster bolts on Cloud City, his own wife's sensitivity to it and the rescue Luke conducted on Jabba's barge, he was a skeptic no longer and instead became rather fearful of the future and once he heard about the being his wife met, the only details he received being that he was pale and sickly looking as well as being named Snoke, he felt he had MORE than enough and was ready to go to any lengths he could to keep his new daughters, Akame and Kurome (names he chose as they both were the same as a few crew members he worked with as a smuggler and simply had a nice ring though Leia was more looking for the names Jaina and Jaesa.) from falling to the clutches of the Dark Side with that feeling being especially prominent once they reached Yavin IV and took a look around at the area where most of the corpses unfortunately still remained though the worst thing of all was that Leia found herself able to pick out both through the Force and the sea of rotting flesh and tattered robes exactly who the students were.

Jaden, Rosh, Alton, Corran, Jacen the names of the fallen warriors followed up by flashbacks to the times prior to their deaths all came rushing to the senses just about every time she gave one of the bodies a glance longer than two seconds, thus quickly turning what was supposed to be a simple search mission into an experience that was emotionally draining to say the least and that went for both parties.

While Han didn't exactly participate in all the sightseeing Leia partook in and more preferred to lean back and have a grand old time with Luke while his son played around with Chewie, the very moment he stepped foot into the ruins of the academy caused him to be swept with an almost constant stream of shock, sadness and of course, anger. Just the very idea alone that one person, that one sick monster would dare to perform such horrific acts, acts that caused his best friend to run and hide was just unbelievable.

Though that partially could've been due to the feeling he had in his bones.

Despite not being in tune with the Force, the former smuggler could feel with every step he took his bones beginning to quiver, a knot beginning to form in his stomach as the darkness that still lingered felt oddly familiar. It was certainly the Dark Side but unlike what he'd expected or guessed, it wasn't unknown or alien, as though whoever did this was actually close enough to Luke that they were able to perform this undetected.

And that was when he remembered what his Jedi friend said about Ben.

"He seems to have a lot of Vader in him." Back when he first heard that, the man in what some would consider a rather insensitive manner in the face of all the very real danger presented by the Dark Side, laughed at the very thought like it was some kind of joke believing that his darker emotions were kind of a given due to his history being what some would consider the most hated con-artist in the galaxy. It would continue like this for the next two visits but once Luke started expressing how deathly serious he was, all that lighthearted laughter quickly became dark fury which would lead into what Han considered to be some of the most VICIOUS arguments that he ever had the displeasure of taking part in with Luke rather sternly telling him how he was not joking and that he needed to see it through to which he would often retort about how his son was nothing like Vader and that eventually, Ben was going to prove him wrong.

How ironic that now in these times of despair, he actually found himself agreeing with Luke and with Leia mentioning how she could feel the presence as well as the rumors swirling around that the Empire might be making a comeback, that gave Han more than enough reason to pull what he was going to pull and once the two generals made their way back to the Falcon with Chewie being left with the two kids in the main room, his face being scrunched up with worry, the plan was revealed.

And just as the Wookiee anticipated, the reaction was far less than pleasant.

"I will not allow you to send them away!" Leia screamed, motioning towards the entrance to the hull. "Ben was enough for me!"

"It's for their own good," Han replied as calmly as he could manage, pointing towards the holographic map he had brought up. "the Dark Side can't reach them on this planet which means they'll be safe."

"The Dark Side is gone Han!"

"VADER is gone." The former smuggler's tone became slightly more stern. "The Dark Side however, it's never gonna leave."

"That doesn't mean it will cause anything! For all we know it could only be a fluke."

"Oh really? A fluke?" Han asked sarcastically. "My wife, the daughter to the man who was able to pull my blaster towards him without any outside assistance is saying that a sensation can be a fluke?" The general found herself stumbling.

"I-I mean, we can never know for cer-c-certa-"

"I never thought I'd have to say this to you but Leia. That's NOT how the Force works!"

"Like you would know anything about it, you didn't believe in the Force remember?"

"Things change sweetheart. Especially when you're at the mercy of a man in a mask, experiences like that NEVER leave you."

"But he did, now he's nothing but a fading memory."

"Don't tell me you're saying the Force is purged of darkness now that Vader is gone." The general's eyes widened.

"What? No I'm not saying that."

"Really?" Han asked. "Because that's very much the impression I'm getting."

"Impressions can be very wrong you know."

"About as wrong as you are right now." Ignoring the insult, Leia shook her head.

"Han, why even do this?" She asked. "Don't you enjoy being a parent?" The smuggler gave her a nod of agreement. "Then why are you so worried about this? Why are you so hellbent on sending them off?"

"Why I'm worried? Are you seriously asking me why?" Leia nodded, causing the smuggler to stand up straight. "I think you know exactly why." Despite the truth resting prominently in the front of her mind, the general continued on with the act.

"I don't fol-"

"Don't give me that 'I don't follow.' nonsense, especially not after you sensed him yourself." The general froze, remembering what he told her husband earlier about how she felt "his" energy around the academy which was the very catalyst for the entire talk. Ever since the boy's disappearance, deep down inside Leia somehow knew of what was the cause of it all, similar to how she knew that she was Luke's sister but very much like Han in his arguments with the Jedi, she simply couldn't see this being true and instead was just hoping, begging for the Force to just let it not be the case.

"Well?" Leia's trance immediately shattered, realizing she had been silent for a good minute or two.

"Han, you know it yourself that it's not true."

"But I have a really, REALLY good feeling that it is and unlike you Leia, I'd rather not risk anything!"

"Do you always have to be this stubborn?!"

"When I'm dealing with someone who hasn't got a single blasted idea about how bad a situation can get, yes I'm stubborn!"

"A situation that hasn't even occurred yet!"

"But it can and I am most certain that it will! Leia I have a..."

"You ALWAYS have a bad feeling!" Leia cut in. "Can't you for once cut the 'take no risk' act and just see how foolish you're acting?"

"Foolish?" Han said, hand pointing towards himself. "You call this foolish?"

"Well what would you prefer I call it?"

"I dunno, being considerate?"

"You call sending our daughters, our flesh and blood away into the deepest reaches of space being considerate?" Leia questioned with disbelief. The former smuggler nodded, causing her anger to flare up to quite possibly the highest level it had ever been in a long while. "Han please don't tell me you're serious!"

"When have I ever NOT been serious princess?! It's you who needs to get serious!"

"I'm not royalty anymore Han! I would appreciate if you stop calling me that!"

"Princess, general, nothing but titles sweetheart and it don't matter what I call you, it's your poor decision that's the foc-"

"Excuse me? I'm not the one who wants to send my daughters aw-"

"IT'S FOR THEIR OWN GOOD LEIA!" Han bellowed, his patience finally extinguished. "FOR THE LAST BLASTED TIME IF I DIDN'T HAVE TO THEN I WOULDN'T!"

"AND I SAY YOU DON'T!"

"AND I SAY YOU NEED TO OPEN YOUR DAMN EYES!" And just like that, the once somewhat polite discussion quickly devolved into what had unfortunately become a common occurrence for the Solo family, a common occurrence that Chewie couldn't help but give off a light disapproving growl to every time it happened. Granted there was more than one occasion where he and Han got into it as well but eventually, that left them all as they all got older and especially when they had children who speaking of which, were currently resting on both of his knees as the Wookiee tried his best to comfort them from it all. Being one who had seen young ones screamed at several times during his time as an Imperial slave with the ones who were present in his cell being those he had to play parent with, trying his best to assure them in spite of near impossible odds that it was all going to be okay and the same happened with the two sisters.

"Why can't you go in and stop mom and dad?" The co-pilot shot Akame a surprised look, realizing that she had started to pick up on his common Shyriiwook phrase of displeasure. Of course, when they're descendants of a powerful Jedi that fought during the time of Yoda in the Clone Wars, a time that Chewie had long since forgotten about, it was to be expected that the Force would start working its way into them in minor ways though really, he could just be overthinking it as they still couldn't speak a single word of it much less try to understand his full sentences without having Threepio or Han around to translate. After a few seconds, he let out a sigh and interacted with her in a universal language that allowed him to get his point across, using signs with his hands to tell her how he wished he could do that but it usually ends up with him dragged into it.

"Has this happened before?" Chewie gave her a nod as well as the signs. The only details he left out was exactly how many times as over the years, it had become far too numerous to list.

"Why does it happen? Why can't they stay happy?" Kurome called out. The Wookiee shrugged, out of all the strange findings in the galaxy, out of all the oddities and unanswered questions, the one he thought he'd never find the answer to is why exactly his friend took so much pleasure in trying to come out victorious in arguments that he knows he would never win. Realizing this, the long-haired girl began to think back to what her father was talking about early on, something about a man named Ben who from the way they were discussing everything, seemed as though he was their brother.

"Chewie?" The Wookiee's head shifted towards the girl, his face filled with intrigue. "Who's this Ben they're talking abo-"

"UNIDENTIFIED CRAFT COMING THIS WAY!" The intercom screamed, causing Chewie to jerk his head to the exit and his ears to tune in to what seemed like the faint whirs and hums of ships while the two sisters sat up with fright. A few seconds later, the message played back once more, the voice sounding far more frantic with the background noise seeming to be that of New Republic troopers gearing up. Feeling the fear rise up within her, Kurome began to curl up into a ball when the Wookiee gently lifted her up and gave a calm, reassuring glance before setting her down on the seat near the Dejarik table, letting out a stern growl along with a hand gesture, letting them know to stay with the ship, the same gesture being reaffirmed when Han and Leia came rushing out moments later, hands resting on their blasters.

"You get it too?" Han asked, noticing his partner already reaching for his bowcaster, letting out a reply that was rather snarky that caused his face to tense with embarrassment which he shook seconds later, grumbling to himself about how the blasters would be louder than them as he made his way towards the door, stopping to turn back towards his children who were huddled up in their seat, motioning for the Wookiee to hand them a blanket as well as to hand them a small tool.

"You stay here and keep yourselves safe," Han said. "if any of us don't come back, use that to pry open the smuggling compartment and hide there got that?" The two nodded in agreement, leaving the former smuggler to start making his way out when the sound of his youngest stopped him.

"But it won't get to that point, right?" Taking note of his daughter's rather frightened tone, the general turned back towards her, his rough features trying their damnedest to look concerned. However, just a few seconds before he was able to speak, Leia came up to the youngest, bent over and gently rubbed her chin.

"Trust me, it will take a lot more than a few blaster bolts to put your old man down." Leia said, kissing Kurome on the cheek seconds later.

"I prefer the term 'seasoned' thank you." Han replied playfully. Giving her kids a final few rubs on the head, the general started making her way out, blaster firmly in hand and ready to fire. A few seconds later once they were out in the morning air, the Wookiee turned towards the doors of the Falcon and pressed a few buttons, hoping for the desired effect that it would close. Unfortunately, like many aged ships, the panel instead crackled and popped with static, shocking Chewie and leaving the door to remain wide open. Before he could express his anger, Leia's voice alerted them.

"By the Force." Seeing his two comrades look over in pure shock, the Wookiee's head cocked curiously to the side, wondering what the trouble was about when a few seconds later, a red blaster bolt came whizzing straight past his head, singeing his hair before colliding with the drop down door to the Falcon, causing a rather noticeable burn mark to appear. On the alert, Chewie let out a loud roar right as he started hustling towards where Han was, bowcaster at the ready staring out at what seemed like a ghost of their past as New Republic soldiers rushed past them, some going as far as to open fire before they reached their position.

In their vision, marching from out of the woods were soldiers clad in white and black, a sight that was most associated with that of the Imperial Stormtrooper or in other words, the Galactic Empire. Though as Han noted, they all were unlike the Stormtroopers of yesteryear with their armor looking far sleeker and their blasters seeming to possess both a bit of white and more of a punch judging by how the still demilitarizing New Republic was going down rather fast but not just by falling as the blaster bolts seemed to knock them away slightly upon impact. Their shock would've continued had it not been for what happened seconds later when the Wookiee came barging in and unloaded one fully charged shot at a group of three, sending their lifeless bodies flying down onto the gravel. Their attention now being directed towards the seemingly revived Empire, Han and Leia wasted no time and rushed out onto the battlefield, their blasters going off on all cylinders, their attention not at all being directed towards a young Kurome and Akame who were standing at the doorway. This being their first taste of watching actual combat go down, the shock of seeing their parents and babysitter, in cover unloading all that they had into real people, killing them in a mess of dust and blood entered their systems almost immediately and was especially affecting the younger of the lot whose fear was beginning to grow much to her sister's concern.

* * *

 _Present Day...  
_

( _Undisclosed Pathway_ )

Just like that before anymore of the story could be revealed, the flash of memories suddenly halted itself, the haze from Kurome's eyes beginning to fade seconds later which soon revealed much to her horror the familiar sight of Kylo Ren, his scarred face once again being covered by his helmet.

"Don't worry. I saw it too." Kylo said, his voice back to being sterile and robotic. "I saw them." Confused, the girl looked at the area around her.

"I don't understand," She thought. "everything seemed so familiar and yet... new. Why hasn't this been brought up before?" Sensing her thoughts with the Force, the Dark Lord found himself asking this very same question when a few seconds later. If Akame and Kurome both spent a great deal of time with their parents before they ended up on the planet Earth then how exactly did they come to forget about it? The Dark Lord lightly grasped his chin and began to ponder over it all. After a good couple minutes, he stopped right as he remembered his own tactics to remain hidden as he searched the galaxy for artifacts, how he used a completely different name to try and avoid all the hassle.

And then he remembered the Empire.

Despite not knowing the Empire in any way aside from what Hux had told him, his astute analysis of the girl allowed him to make the smart guess that she had been with the group for a long, long while, to the point where if she desired to leave, she most likely would be called crazy or would be forced to undergo tests to try and figure out the change in attitude... and the word "tests" soon found itself lingering in Kylo's mind.

If the Empire was anything like the First Order then most likely, they've heard of the idea of reconditioning or as some of the Resistance had come to calling it, brainwashing. For the First Order, it of course was used to make sure that their young recruits wouldn't dare to try and fight back against them and the purpose most likely was the same for the Empire but the idea still lingered in his mind. The most likely reason for why Kurome and most likely Akame didn't recognize him as their brother is because of the combination of events that occurred with Han most likely keeping them far from him and telling them to keep their names hidden and the Empire doing its best when they found them to beat their ideals into their skulls, forcing these memories back into the deepest darkest recesses of their minds.

And despite the group being destroyed for the most part, the very thought still infuriated Kylo as he soon raised his hand to his face and balled it up in a fist, picturing in his mind that the one inside his grip was the fat minister Hux told him about who if he wasn't dead, he would've made sure that he wished this was the case.

"If it wasn't for Esdeath being my apprentice and Hux getting to them before me, I would've killed them all." He said coldly before turning his attention back towards his still frightened sister. Though the anger was still fresh in his mind, he took in a deep breath and relaxed himself.

"It doesn't matter." Kylo said, his hand outstretching towards her. "The fact that we're together again is all that I care about."

"But why?" Kurome asked slowly backing away. "Why try and find me now?"

"Because I desire your assistance." Kurome cocked her head to the side.

"My assistance?" Ren nodded, setting his hands behind his back. "With what?"

"The restoration of order in the galaxy." He replied, beginning to pace towards her. "You see Kurome, for the longest of times the First Order has been working tirelessly to bring peace and balance to the very world you live in and we've been doing so in a variety of ways. Tearing down insurgents, feeding supporters, you name it and we most likely have done it..." Right then, the Dark Lord's tone changed. "Or at least, we wish we can say that."

"Why is it a wish?" Kurome asked, trying her hardest to concentrate on a plan.

"Because a resistance is constantly pushing to keep this from becoming a reality." Kylo explained. "For years now we've been locked in a heated battle with a group of insurgents, lead by your mother who believe that what we bring isn't peace and instead would rather keep the galaxy in a state of unrest as they did during the Empire's reign." Seeing that his attention was still set on talking, the assassin calmly cleared her mind, taking this chance to put all her energy into one of her greatest powers, hoping that it would at least be enough to hinder him.

"But why me?" Kurome asked, playing along. "You seem just fine on your own." The Dark Lord remained silent for a brief moment.

"Trust me Kurome, if I truthfully was just fine on my own, I would've actually stayed in my galaxy." Feeling his blood begin to boil, the tone changed into that of a low growl. "But that desert girl, I just can't ever shake her from my mind. She beat and humiliated me, she led to Starkiller's destruction and now... and now..." His body beginning to quiver with rage, Kurome watched as the ground beneath him began to crack. "Skywalker, the last JEDI is back! Meaning that everything my grandfather strived to accomplish will all be for nothing!" Seeing the spot below him almost immediately shatter, the assassin felt her fear beginning to rise once more as the man's tone softened.

"Unless of course, we bring back the Sith." Her concentration not waning a bit, Kurome's brow cocked upward.

"Sith?" Kylo nodded.

"The Jedi are considered peacekeepers, the Sith are the same. The exception is that they use the Force in its rawest, purest state, a state that the Jedi constantly fears and wants to be purged from this galaxy." For some reason, the Dark Lord could feel his nerves beginning to tense up despite there being no danger. As he continued, he carefully set his hand over his lightsaber, his thumb lightly grazing the button out of caution. "But they don't realize that through this, they've become the very thing they swore they'd destroy and before they know it, they'll die off to their own hypocrisy and the Sith are just there to soften the blow and bring about the inevitable. Or at least we were there."

"What do you mean?" Kurome asked.

"I mean before all this we had a full empire." Kylo said. "Back then, we had a full army of Sith, ready to destroy all who stood in their way and bring about the next generation until one fool decided to destroy it all. Darth Bane."

"Darth Bane?" Not surprised at his sister's lack of knowledge, the Dark Lord went on.

"A rather fanatical Sith Lord, he was a brilliant strategist and a fighter, definitely one I studied, it's just a shame he had to construct the Rule of Two." Before his sister could open her mouth, he continued. "The Rule of Two was an ancient philosophy that stated there could only be two Sith at a time, a master and an apprentice."

"Seriously? He believed that only two Sith were powerful enough compared to a whole army?"

"Bane believed that the main issue with the Sith was the in-fighting and constant obsession over power, an issue that weakened the Sith Empire for many years as they seemed to lose more members through them killing each other than they did by Jedi. An issue that I agree was far too prominent. However, the thought that back then we had an entire empire, an army at our beck and call only for one man to take it all down which left the Sith with a much smaller presence than they used to have is something that I simply can't ignore."

"So what's your plan?" Kurome asked, feeling that she was almost ready to unleash her ability.

"I thought it would've been obvious, I want to bring the Dark Side back to its feet from the state of disaster that Bane left it in. I want to bring a complete END to the Light Side and want the Sith to rise from the ashes and take their rightful place as the true rulers of the galaxy! The outdated age of which my grandfather was a part of is finally coming to an end and in its place will be a prosperous future and with the Supreme Leader at the helm of it all, absolutely NO one will be able to stop us!" Seeing as she only had just a bit more before she could unleash it all, she let Kylo continue on for just a bit longer, watching as his tone and body language softened. "Which is where you come in."

"You want me to be a part of the revival of this Sith Empire?" The Dark Lord nodded.

"I was hoping that you would be the start to it all with you in all honesty but seeing how Esdeath was so willing, so capable, I knew I had to have her. Which all lead to this very moment where I can now tell this to you Kurome. Join me and together we can end this destructive conflict and oversee the galaxy as it enters a new age of peace!" A long awkward pause soon followed, the assassin not knowing what to say in response to her clearly maniacal brother's offer though that could be due to the small ace she had up her sleeve at the time. Waiting for her response, Kylo cocked his head to one side, his expression underneath the mask being somewhat impatient and... strangely on edge.

"I hope you do realize how necessary this is. By bringing the entire galaxy under one law, one language, and the enlightened guidance of the Dark Side, the corruption that plagued both your Empire and the Jedi in their later years will never take root. Fools like Honest that allowed everything to crumble in order to stuff his revolting maw will never be allowed to thrive. Through the Supreme Leader's rule, we will ensure the rule of law… Under the Sith Empire, our most cherished beliefs will be safeguarded. We will defend our ideals by force of arms. We will give no ground to our enemies and will stand together against attacks from within or without and most of all, we will be able to achieve peace. Again I tell you Kurome to join me as with your assistance, we can truthfully bring everything to a new age of prosperity." Finally after what seemed like almost an eternity, Kurome looked into the man's eyes.

"You really want to know my answer?" Kylo nodded, taking note of how the tone sounded oddly... mocking. A few seconds later before he could question anymore, the girl stood up and thrust her sword into the air, the Dark Lord watching as suddenly, several streaks of purple lightning came launching from the blade and out into the ground around him, causing what seemed to be several dark blobs to appear though as time went on, Kylo took note of how it slowly shifted into a more human shape. Taking advantage of the diversion, the assassin sheathed her sword and bolted away from the scene, a sight that filled Kylo with quite a burning fury.

"You littl-ACK!" The Dark Lord's hand rushed to grasp his wounded side, only for him to then pull it away once he felt something warm pour out onto his glove and once he spotted the familiar red fluid, the memories of a similar injury being inflicted by Chewbacca came into mind. Angrily jerking around to face his attacker, Kylo was rather surprised to find a blonde woman, her face emotionless with pistols armed and aimed directly at him. Using the Force to keep her locked in position, Ren turned around to see all these different warriors seemingly rising from the grave with the looks being extremely varied especially when it came to the ape-man which brought back memories of the wolf-man that used to visit the cantinas on Mos Eisley.

Though really, nothing could compare to the absolute hatred he felt realizing that he had been played.

A few seconds later, the Dark Lord ignited his lightsaber and with a mighty roar and spin, he charged towards the puppets, his crimson blade ripping them apart, the inhuman screeches of limbs being sliced filling Kurome's eardrums as she continued to run as fast as she possibly could, hoping that at the very least the time she bought would be more than enough for her to make that escape. _  
_

Though judging by the screams, she knew deep in her heart that would most likely not be the case.

* * *

( _Undisclosed Forest_ )

In the end of it all, it really only took Run less than a minute to realize exactly how much trouble he truthfully was in.

Back when news of the Empire and call for the formation of the Jaegers came out, the school teacher took it up not because he enjoyed their horrific acts but because eventually he wanted to find a way to rip it apart from the inside and hopefully make the world a better place. Unfortunately as time went on, he found that with the strength of Esdeath, the psychotic Stylish and the horrific twisted grin of Honest, the idea that this mission could be accomplished was quickly recognized to be nearly impossible so instead, he decided to engage in a smart plan and let Night Raid do the work until an opening could be found. But then, even more issues came up when he realized just how much he appreciated some of those involved who as he found were some of the nicest people that he had ever met.

Wave, Kurome, Bols, amid the sea of insanity he was stuck in with the waves constantly pounding against his flesh, these three are definitely who he would consider the diamonds in the rough, the friendly sailors who were willing to pick up stranded civilians and carry them to safety. With that in mind, he soon found himself rethinking the Empire's strategy, finding that instead of hating it that it was a legitimate cause, an attempt to restore peace and justice to the Earth as they saw fit. Of course there were a few missteps taken such as with Champ being a part of the police force but once they were made fugitives and kicked out of the fine nation, the blonde felt that the nation was actually improving and that they would be entering a new age of peace very, very soon.

And it was at that point that the universe seemingly decided to crush his hopes and dreams by throwing a wrench into it all, a wrench that he didn't see until now.

A new kind of darkness had seemed to rise from over the landscape as soon as the news of white-clad troopers started making the rounds which was soon followed by talks of "screeching demons", dark men in masks, laser swords and of course the complete total decimation of everything that stood in their way. Even in the distance as he continued to hobble through the forest, Run could still hear screams. Not battle-cries or roars but pure primal shouts of agony as the blasters and flamethrowers continued to rip through their flesh, a sight that even after he reached one of the trees, he just had to stop and vomit as holding it back seemed to make him near deathly ill.

Yet that wasn't the most frightening part as that went to the sheer lack of emotion the troopers showed in performing the act.

Even though they were wearing helmets, Run had spent more than enough time with the Empire for him to make smart guesses about what the body language might indicate and from the sea of twenty troopers, he could only count ONE who seemed slightly horrified by all this and even then, he could only pick them out due to their orange shoulder pad that stuck out among the sea of white, black and silver. Of course this wasn't new to him as when fighting in a war, one must condition themselves to not be so affected by the act of murder as letting it get to you could lead to some truthfully catastrophic results on the battlefield but as far as the First Order was concerned, their murder of Revolutionaries were not only performed with peak efficiency and a lack of emotion but the few words that were tossed out were certainly less than pleasing.

"Get back you filthy animals!"

"It's useless to resist scum!"

Or as one trooper exclaimed when one of the injured bodies gripped their leg, smearing their blood on the stainless white armor. "Get your disgusting mitts off of me you wretch!" And just like that, Run watched as the soldier's head went from being firmly on their shoulders to mush that was splattered on the ground in a flash of red light which became the very last straw and so, he ran.

Not exactly a good idea as one trooper took this as desertion and almost immediately opened fire, one of the blasts managing to find its way into his thigh which was why he couldn't exactly walk the whole way through. He was detouring around several trees, just hoping to find some form of shelter away from the battle where he could just relax and let someone mend his wound though also, he was wanting to get away from the stench.

Even though he was as far from the carnage as he could be, the smell of burning corpses still stung his nostrils with their full on assault, forcing him to use every ounce of his strength to keep from vomiting again due to the potency of it all. Eventually after what felt like several hours or days, the blonde couldn't go on any longer and sat back against the tree, examining his wound while both letting out a series of tired breaths and letting his mind wander.

"What have I gotten myself into?" He asked, his fingers lightly prodding the blaster wound. "I originally joined to tear them apart and now, it looks like they're working to do so as well." Though it could've been due to his wound and the wooziness he felt from the blood-loss, Run couldn't help but feel as though he was being watched, like he wasn't the only one present though his mind and actions wouldn't exactly tip anyone off.

"This is a rather strange thing isn't it?" Run thought with a slight chuckle. "We live in a world where Danger Beasts exist, weapons can grant you abilities such as ice manipulation and flight and where clowns aren't exactly what you'd expect them to be... and yet, we're still taken aback by spacemen who talk about how most of it used to belong to them. Sounds like a story that would be crafted by the kids I teach." Slightly wincing from the pain in his leg, Run sat back against the bark and looked up into the sky, feeling peace enter his mind, the feeling he was being watched slowly fading away as his mind continued to wander.

"Back then if someone told me that spacemen would visit us, I would've said how they were a little eccentric..." The blonde raised his hand to his face and examined the red viscous fluid on his fingers. "But now that it has happened well... damn, I guess I owe that one an apology." His relaxation seeping into his system, the man could only just barely see a spot of reddish hair coming out from behind a tree and for the most part, still focused on the sky above.

"It's odd to think that even when we think we know everything, life always seems to know how to throw in a curve-ball that throws us off completely and how it can do so in such a cruel, spiteful way." The red-haired figure slowly made her way towards the blonde, fingers reaching into her handbag where she pulled out a small thin needle. "But I guess this is what happens to people like me." Dropping down to one knee, the figure examined his body, looking for a possible instant entry point for the needle, an act that Run could've easily stopped but strangely enough, he felt it was actually necessary. "I guess this needed to happen at some point, after all I didn't die a hero who ended the Empire, I only lived long enough to see myself work for the very thing I wanted to destroy." Drawing the needle back, the figure was ready to strike when the two locked gazes, causing her to freeze.

"That part of my neck isn't what's going to kill me instantly." Chelsea's eyes widened.

"What?" The blonde simply smiled and leaned forward his hand motioning towards a certain spot on the back of his neck.

"This right here, that will do it." Not believing what she was seeing, the assassin tensed up.

"Hold on a moment, are you actually being serious?" Run nodded.

"If I wasn't I wouldn't even be pointing towards this now would I?" Chelsea felt herself tense up even more with shock, in all her years of killing targets, not once had she ever found someone who was so willing to go out, someone who actually is WANTING to die by her hand. At least, not once had she found one who was serious about it.

"But... but..."

"I know what you're thinking, with only one injury and the great life I live with the Empire, why is it that I desire to be put down? Or you could be wondering why even with my ample opportunity to fight back and kill you, I choose to instead accept my fate." A few seconds later, the blonde took in a deep breath. "Well you see my friend, I never actually intended my life to be devoted to the Empire. In fact, I actually wanted to take a chance and rip it apart from the inside, feeling that with all the corruption and the lies that have been spread around, its destruction would actually bring us the peace and balance we desire and then use the money I earned to try and repair the damages of my town once the new order has been set in place." A few seconds later, Run's face shifted from a small smile into a frown that as far as Chelsea could tell, was full of self-loathing.

"Unfortunately that didn't exactly come to pass and I found myself being sucked into all the madness myself, becoming only a shell of what I used to be." Run turned his attention towards his palm, picturing in his mind all the assaults he had been a part of and all the lives he couldn't save. "Through this dreaded empire I became desensitized to all the violence and the suffering, civilian casualties quickly became something I couldn't prevent, my own team was showing massive degrees of insanity, everything that corrupted the Empire beforehand was seeping into my veins and I just couldn't stop it!" After letting out a few hoarse breaths, the assassin cut in.

"What changed?" Run's smile returned.

"Three words, the First Order." He said calmly, watching as Chelsea's head cocked to the side. "It sounds crazy I know and please don't be mistaken, I do believe the acts the First Order commits are far from what I'd consider heroic and sane and if given the chance I would've tried to destroy them all in a heartbeat. But at the very least, they showed me the light. Through their horrific acts, they showed me exactly what I was fighting against in the first place, they reminded me what I was slowly becoming, what was going to happen to the Jaegers..." His smile became slightly darker. "They reminded me exactly of what I needed to do." Not getting what he was saying, Chelsea's head remained cocked to the side, her gaze occasionally snapping back towards her handbag, as if she was unsure of whether or not she should go. Spotting this, Run carefully raised his hand towards hers and touched it, causing her to wince only slightly but there was no jumping as his soothing voice entered her system.

"I understand your concerns but you have to believe me, if I continue on back to the First Order who would be told about me running from a battle, I would be tortured to an almost unfathomable degree and if they're possibly as barbaric as they appear, I just may have my head at the end of this being slapped down on a stake which will be used as a symbol of fear and I don't want that."

"I understand but what about your..."

"My friends? I fear for them as well but you see, it just doesn't matter because as I said, if I return, all that's going to happen is that they will have to view my mangled body for the years to come and I would rather not force them to view that in any way." Before Chelsea could ask anything more, Run let his head droop once more, using his hands to aim the needle so that it was right above the back of his neck. "Please grant this desire, don't leave me here to suffer." For the first time in her entire life ever since her team died, Chelsea found herself at a crossroads without any idea about which route to take.

Back then, she had killed hundreds upon hundreds of targets and if one of those few who asked her this question were serious, she would've gladly done it. But the reasoning behind most of her previous kills was that for the most part, the acts they committed were so wretched and vile with most of them doing so without remorse so bringing about their deaths actually felt relieving but Run? Out of all the members present with the Jaegers, Run was one she would call the least offensive thing about it. Hell, she read about all his good deeds as a school teacher back then and from what she heard through all the news surrounding the Jaegers, the one person they described as keeping to the sidelines was none other than a certain winged blonde. Killing him would bring them closer to the end of the Jaegers sure but with the First Order on the run, would it really make that much of a difference?

Speaking of the First Order, that was an unfortunate truth of the matter since if Esdeath's new look and abilities are to be believed then the Jaegers have quickly become the least of their worries and if what the blonde said was true then her sparing his life would just lead to a whole new world of agony for him which would possibly involve blasters, baton strikes and as they read, laser swords and magical powers that could break a person's bones in just under a few seconds and they would do this all over the course of several days and for a guy like Run, that was NO way for him to go. The blonde watched as Chelsea continued to deliberate over this for what felt like several long minutes, seeing the conflict in her eyes only becoming greater and greater which was expected. Finally, the girl took in a nice deep breath and took one last glance at the needle, swallowing down her worries before turning her attention to the blonde. Smiling, the blonde took in one final breath right as he shut his eyes. A few seconds later, the blonde felt only a slight prick in his neck followed by a warm small outflow of fluid pouring from the wound. With the last of his strength, Chelsea watched as the man let out one final phrase.

"Thank... you." And just like that, the body slumped forward, leaving Chelsea to stare at it for a few more seconds longer than she felt she needed to before proceeding to walk off, her mind letting out one final thought about the whole matter.

"That's the worst part about this job, it's when you can feel the target's suffering as you make the kill." Letting a single tear drop from her eye, the girl turned her attention to the front and took in a deep breath, feeling as the sadness drained from her being.

"But at the very least, the solace comes when you know they died in peace."


	22. Chapter 22

( _Imperial Capital_ )

In spite of the several years of service he put into his work, in spite of all the times he had to go through similar situations, in spite of all the confidence he possessed in regards to this mission and its seemingly insured success, General Hux couldn't help but feel a combination of both excitement and dread enter his system as he marched his way through the narrow pitch black hallways at a consistently speedy pace as to make sure he reached Captain Phasma before Kylo Ren and Vitani decided to contact him about anything which he was certain wouldn't take long given that the last time the former stopped by, it was to simply check up on his progress and once he saw it, to retrieve the golden ring he had on his finger, a practice he had become all too familiar with by this point especially when it came down to the few Sith artifacts he found back then during their massive search after Starkiller went down in flames.

Considering that nothing was going on at the moment, the general especially couldn't help but think back to that occasion and the whirlwind of emotion that ripped through his body and mind for the weeks that followed. While he hid it better than most, it came to the surprise of no one that the one commanding officer who had spent many a sleepless night watching over the construction of what was supposed to be the fiercest machine in the galaxy alongside his dying father who penned the initial concepts was absolutely livid about its destruction to the point where even with the time that had passed since then, he couldn't help but think back to the overwhelming rage that flooded his system when he saw that oscillator go up in smoke to the point where when he held that frantic conversation with the Supreme Leader, he couldn't help but feel his voice rising dangerously close into a growl as his muscles tensed and twitched. In fact, one could say the only light surprise the staff had was the fact that from the very next day, he'd act disturbingly calm about the whole thing, almost as though the event never took place at all.

For those who knew the man's father, Commandant Brendol Hux however, they'd have a good idea as to why this was.

"There's no point to lingering on the past, you either move on and try to succeed or remain with the weak and whine about a time you never lived." That was the old man's response to just about every single trooper who ever came up to him with their woes about the Death Star's destruction and for the most part, it was one of the many quotes that he used to raise Armitage Hux alongside the several stories about the heroic Imperials taking on the villainous Rebellion which were of course, needed as his son was obviously not old enough to have truthfully lived through the rise and fall of the Galactic Empire and pretty much was thrust into service during a time when the army bared more resemblance to a group of greedy Happabores shoving and biting one another in an effort to drink down the sparse portion of water in their trough than it did functioning military.

Alongside the stories of valor and courage, Brendol also shared with his son many details about his time in the Empire and what he took from them to craft his ideas which would later come to fruition when the First Order was formed. With these tales that ranged from discussing the urban legend of Project Blackwing, a bio-weapons project that quickly went down south and wiped out an entire Star Destroyer crew to simply the various sabotage and assassination attempts made by a band of rebels that Lord Vader eventually dealt with at the cost of putting an end to the Inquisitor project, it was through all these stories that the commandant wanted to instill into Hux something that the grand majority of the Empire didn't even possess with the possible only exceptions being Vader and the Emperor.

That being a sense of caution which as the general had come to find, would never leave him for the rest of his life.

Even with something as seemingly harmless as a weapons test, perimeter check and most recently, the request put out by his most trusted soldier, Captain Phasma. The general always exercised a massive, sometimes excessive degree of caution when dealing with these situations which when combined with his penchant for remaining awake for multiple days at a time until a project is completely finished, often made him quite possibly the most spatially aware non-Force-sensitive of the entire Order and more often than not seemed to have senses so keen and so trained that many joked he could hear a pin drop from miles away and yet he would still rush for his pistol in case it was some unseen assailant ready to strike and for the most part, he never seemed to find anyone who thought as he did.

That was until he met the orange-haired girl in black who was walking right alongside him with her dog/Imperial Arms trailing just a few feet behind them, listening in on their conversation which was centered on a topic that the general was especially fluent in.

"I never got the chance to ask, just what was going on between you and that boy?" Hux questioned, the assassin remaining silent for a few moments only to then have the memory of Wave laying flat on the ground as she swung away come rushing into her being which caused her to develop a small frown and let out a sigh.

"That was just Wave," She began. "me and him are... it's..." A few seconds of silence later, the girl let out a sigh. "he just for some reason finds that apparently our service to the Empire is unjust, believing that we should support the criminals and focus on treating them fairly more than we should be focusing on wiping their filth from the planet."

"Is that so?" Noticing the general's curiosity peaking slightly, the warrior threw out a question along with a nod.

"Did you have to deal with anything like this?"

"Countless times yes." The general said with a complete lack of emotion.

"That doesn't give me an exact esti-"

"Let's just say that I've dealt with several fools like that boy for years, sometimes with multiple at a time and regardless of the levels they go to, it doesn't get any less bothersome. Tell me Ms. Ubiquitous, have you ever been in a room where you've had to deal with grown men and women screaming their heads off, bickering over the direction your regime should be taken in?" The warrior shook her head, her focus mostly being directed towards the end of the hallway which was quite rapidly drawing near, a sight that Hux took note of as well. "Well I have and let me tell you my young friend, it was not pretty for more often than not, I've had to use every fiber of my being to keep from strangling them all with the only exceptions being when they were just holograms."

"I see..." Seryu said, the cogs turning in her mind as she noticed exactly how similar her and Hux were. Prior to this small little question regarding the idealistic man named Wave, the chat they were engaged in mostly revolved around their view on justice, a subject that she knew quite well and much to her surprise, while there were a few disagreements here and there, she found that both of their views on the subject were almost identical point for point, right down to the idea that even if one trooper were forced to betray them, they would still be considered an enemy and shot on sight though of course, she had more than a few things to say about Phasma but immediately silenced herself when she remembered the sheer presence she had entering the room.

In fact, if there was one major difference between the First Order and the Empire that she could list right from the top of her head, it was most certainly the presence they commanded. At first glance, one would think that the Empire was possibly one of the most powerful fighting forces of all time and one that was both revered and feared by the populace but once you pull back that rather thin veil, you will find that while it certainly has rung true for those such as Stylish and Ogre, the same could most definitely not be said for the likes of Honest and Makoto as the both of them were widely considered even by Seryu herself, unfit to rule over such a massive government as not only was the Emperor far too young and inexperienced but the prime minister was nothing but a wide waste of space, his only purpose seeming to revolve around hanging back and munching on chicken legs while his followers did the dirty work which when combined with how she eventually saw the idiocy of groups like Wild Hunt as well as the complete lack of strong leadership, it led to her developing the conclusion that while she was happy to serve them, a massive change was needed.

Though all of this was only noticed when the First Order dropped in.

Comparing the First Order to the Empire as stated many times before, was like trying to compare a small rabbit to a Danger Beast with the First Order mainly taking the place of the latter. From the moment General Hux first stepped into that room to meet with the prime minister, the differences between the two were night and day. Whereas Honest was a fat slob who looked as though an average civilian could take him down? The general was this fit, young and very detached soldier who clearly cared little for the idea of lazing about as the sleepless sunken in eyes showed rather perfectly and the feeling of wonder would only continue as more of the First Order was revealed with the most notable one being the commander of the whole thing, Kylo Ren who despite all the complaints Hux threw out about him, had this ominous, foreboding figure with his dark cloak and shimmering mask that made him look less like a human and more like this towering machine of power which was the best description she could give for the First Order as a whole and overall, it made her all the more proud to be a part of it all.

A few seconds later, her thoughts would soon be shaken up once the door came sliding inward, the shimmering pieces of Captain Phasma's chromium armor sticking out through the cracks along with thin beams of red. Once everything was completely open, the captain didn't even have to say anything once she saw how Hux's eyes went wide with surprise and how Seryu's jaw dropped at the sight in the center of the room, the bright red light being nearly blinding her and the general upon taking their first glance at it.

"By the Force..." Hux muttered to himself as he continued to gaze at the single MASSIVE suit of black metallic armor resting rather ominously in the center of the room, the green and red lights illuminating it in such a way that it vaguely reminded him of the communication chamber within Starkiller Base and how the light bounced off of Snoke's thin sickly frame though what especially caused him to draw that connection was the aforementioned piercing crimson light that was almost the exact same color as the laser that fired from the base itself though upon closer inspection, it almost seemed to have a... crystal-like form behind it all which especially peaked his interest along with the possible source of the armor itself.

"How did you find this?" The general asked, turning towards Phasma.

"While you were training the girl, I decided to take a few moments to examine the entire place." Phasma began as the general slowly made his way towards the suit. "It was then when I found a small dedicated pathway which led into the underground sections which led me to this."

"How was the Empire able to hide something like this?" Seryu asked, her voice filled with wonder.

"I still haven't been able to deduce that myself in the time I spent looking at it." The captain replied. "A piece of equipment this large would most likely had to have been here long before our time as the design seems rather..."

"Ancient, like the days of the Sith Empire." Hux interjected.

"You know this armor general?" Phasma asked with surprise. His attention still being directed towards the armor along with what was indeed a shimmering red crystal in the center of the chest, the general shook his head.

"Not quite but I do remember Snoke telling both me and Ren a bit about a suit of armor that the original Sith Emperor Vitiate built in his lust for power. The Supreme Leader said the details had been lost with time with the exception being the size which according to rumors, was so massive that it was like you were staring at the harbinger of the apocalypse and this..." Hux turned his head back towards his two colleagues seconds later. "this matches that vague description rather perfectly."

"Forgive me but that seems rather far-fetched." Phasma said with disbelief. "If this truthfully belonged to Vitiate then why would he abandon it?" The general shrugged.

"Like I said, it only matches one vague description but if memory serves me right? The Supreme Leader mentioned that it drained the body exponentially if used for long periods of time and with the toll the Dark Side took on Vitiate as the amount of degradation he suffered through caused his body to have quite a pale, almost translucent complexion meaning that he was most likely in no position to endure the strain this caused though..." Taking a closer look at the red crystal, Hux brought one hand to his chin, realizing a possible mistake. "it seems as though he knew of this beforehand judging by the crystal."

"What do you mean by that general?" Seryu questioned, Koro now standing right by her leg.

"What I'm meaning is that the Sith of that era often didn't use natural means of training or anything along those lines to become as strong as they did and in the case of warriors such as Vitiate, they took this to the extreme by harvesting Dark Side energy and using it as their own with only light training being done in order to control it which had an unfortunate side-effect."

"What kinds of side-effects?"

"You ever hear of the old phrase about how too much of anything can be disastrous?" Seryu nodded. "Well the Sith didn't exactly know of this and so through their endeavors in the Dark Side, the amount of energy they immersed themselves in was just far too much for them to handle and it led to rapid degradation of their bodies and minds with the least troubling case being that your skin will become pale and near lifeless to something as extreme as the physical form not being able to stand up to the weight of one's own power, an issue that especially plagued those such as Nihilus who could only stay alive by absorbing the energy of others." Remembering a certain Dark Lord who managed everything, the girl spoke up.

"Is that why you have so many grievances about Kylo Ren? Is it because you fear that he will end up like the Sith of old?" The general couldn't help but chuckle. Knowing Kylo as well as he did, the very idea that he would fear for a man as bratty and uncontrolled as him was so far from his mind that it practically stretched past the Unknown Regions.

"Ms. Ubiquitous, if Ren was really as mad as those such as Vitiate, I'd be more concerned about just how much he wastes that power than if he dies from it." Seeing Seryu slightly pleased but ashamed seemingly for how off she was, the general signaled towards the captain who immediately gave her a rough pat on the back.

"Don't worry about it cadet, you will learn soon enough." With everything all said and done. Hux continued on with hand on his chin and eyes centered on the crystal.

"Though I do wonder what exactly a Kyber crystal is doing here."

"Kyber crystal?" Noticing Seryu's interest, the general continued.

"They're crystals that are naturally in tune to the Force and are used in the construction of lightsabers." He explained. "Both Jedi and Sith have used them over the years but it mostly has been considered a tool of the Jedi by some as the amount of time and patience it takes to fill one with the energy necessary to create a stable blade is quite ridiculous and since the Sith of old again, preferred to take shortcuts to obtain their power, these crystals were often ignored for red synthetics that were filled with all their hatred which while still somewhat of a pain, was often a success as some blades were known to be so unbelievably powerful that they could break through another saber's blade." Examining the crystal far more closely, the general felt his head well up with confusion. "Which means that if this was indeed Vitiate's weapon, one has to wonder why exactly a Kyber crystal is even present or why it's emitting that glow." Hux simply stood there, searching over the armor with a stone cold stare, his steely countenance and incredible amount of concentration possibly rivaling even that of a Jedi. The thoughts continued to spin through his mind for a few more minutes before finally, one particular thought came into mind, a recollection of what Snoke told him regarding Kyber crystals.

"Of course, Ilum wasn't the only world where crystals were made." The voice of the Supreme Leader echoed. "Before the use of synthetics, the Sith scoured the entire galaxy in the hopes of uncovering crystals exactly like those on Ilum but far more energized with the Force and eventually, they did find them... but at a cost. The crystals proved to be far too volatile and unstable with even the smallest drop causing them to explode upon impact and possibly due to the attempts of Sith alchemy on the planet or just the physical differences, the crystals had... additional elemental effects unlike anything they had ever seen and when inserted into a lightsaber without the Force energy required to stabilize it, there was a massive chance that the weapon would detonate in one's hands upon turning it on. With this in mind, the Sith used the planet for their training due to the amount of challenges that tested their skills but the grand majority ignored these crystals though I wouldn't be surprised if a handful ignored the warnings and jumped at the chance anyway." He also recalled how the only difference that was described between the two was that there was a slight glow that emanated from the thing as well as the name. For the most part, everyone called them Kyber crystals as normal since they were but the natives on the world at the time apparently referred to it as a completely different name, a name that so far as of right then, was completely escaping the general's mind and no matter how hard he tried, he simply could not find anything relating to it.

However that didn't mean his interest in the object was any lower which Phasma noticed almost immediately by how he was poking his chin, indicating that the possibilities were flowing through his mind.

"General are you thinking we should take the weapon?" That was one thought that certainly flew through Hux's mind, the idea that the First Order could possibly take a piece of equipment like this and use it to crush the Resistance was certainly an appealing idea and one that he was certain would sit well with the rest of the admirals back on the Finalizer. But there was just something about it that seemed rather... off. It could certainly be a valuable tool and it looks as though it would work wonders in stomping out the opposition but he just couldn't shake the feeling that the weapon they were looking at wouldn't work for any of them and that there must be a reason why someone like Vitiate were the only ones who could use it and if he had to be honest, the only portion that really interested him was that red crystal which if they could track down the source of it, they could gain a brand new batch of resources that would serve as complete replacements for the internals of the grand majority of their weaponry which was something they were especially CRAVING for after the Finalizer showcased just how powerful these crystals could be if used as the source for their firepower.

"Sir? Your response?" Phasma asked a few seconds later. Taking the last few moments to ponder over the possibilities, the general made his decision.

"The armor is of no use to us." The general said, turning back towards his allies. "The crystal is what we need." Shocked by what she considered to be the general's first real misstep, the captain tried to speak up only for Hux to immediately make his way down seconds later, cutting her off in the process.

"Researching the crystal is a higher priority as it could lead to something far more useful for us later on down the line."

"Like what?" Phasma asked rather sternly.

"I'd rather just leave you with this thought," Hux began right as he stopped at the door. "imagine an entire army of Stormtroopers, outfitted with these crystals and by extension the power of the Force." Right as the captain's face perked up with curiosity, the general left but not before giving one final command. "Ms. Ubiquitous, grab the crystal. Captain, make contact with the Finalizer and ask them to send a ship for pick-up." Right as there was only a sliver of Hux's body, the two of them gave a salute with Seryu turning her attention towards the armor thrusting her arm out towards the red light.

"Koro! Retrieve!" Phasma watched as the puny dog creature with a nod and a growl, bulked up several sizes, its tiny paws turning from white stumps of fur to massive meaty mitts. In just mere seconds following the transformation much to her surprise, the beast came charging for the armor and with its strength, it leaped right onto the shimmering metallic structure, the chains rattling upon impact and with a slight bit of caution, gripped the crystal and ripped it from its confines with a loud "POP!" before leaping off seconds later and just like that, the suit's energy seemed to drain almost completely the moment the tall creature lowered it to Phasma's hands. Her grip nice and tight around the crystal and knowing full well that it was best not to think it over too much, the captain turned back towards the door, stopping only to give a small hand-signal to Seryu before proceeding to reach for her communicator, the last bit of noise that could be heard being both a bark from Koro as well as her demand.

"Send a retrieval shuttle down, we have something that needs to be researched as per the general's orders."

* * *

( _Undisclosed Forest_ )

Throughout all of history, it has been said to both assassins and soldiers alike that if one had to go out, that it would be much preferred if they went out fighting a good fight and that they never desert their allies since to them, running away from a conflict not only never solved anything but it also never existed in their eyes as desertion was believed to be the worst crime that could ever be committed by a warrior being second only to betrayal. This was especially told to all members of the Empire with the only penalty for breaking one of these rules being the horrific embrace of death and for the most part, every member followed it extensively with those who didn't often being chastised.

How odd that now, Kurome found herself having to technically break both of these rules in order to get away from a rampaging monstrosity though really, she found that by that point, she just couldn't bring herself to care anymore.

She of course wouldn't want those who saw her to be mistaken as she did care a great deal about her position and certainly the decision wasn't easy for her to make especially when she had no choice but to send her puppets to their death, only being able to listen as vibrant hisses and cries filled the air alongside several hums, indicating that they were being sliced apart with relative ease until her resources are eventually and inevitably extinguished and had it been possible, she certainly would've remained behind to try and fight the man off but as reality told her judging by how quickly the puppets fell, it would've been all for naught had the option been considered.

With this in mind combined with the fears that swirled around about the most recent revelation, the swordswoman found herself for the next several minutes being forced to run for her life as the masked monstrosity who dared to call himself her brother gave chase, the hum of his red laser sword being the only sound that filled her head alongside several lines that she again like the nightmares of the past, couldn't piece together.

"Don't do it..."

"...what father said..."

"...hide..." Closing off on that final word, Kurome found herself listening to it far more than ever and with some quick thinking made a break for the forest, hoping that the foliage and trees present would mask her and that once a true hiding spot could be found, she could give her aching legs a rest and wait it all out until Wave, Bols, Run or hell, even a member of Night Raid could rescue her from this very real danger lifted straight from her dreams.

Though really, she knew deep down inside that even if that happened, most likely the outcome would be the exact same as her dreams.

Much to her horror, the thoughts came flooding in like a current just seconds later. The sight of Bols being skinned head-to-toe by the crimson blade, Run having his wings ripped from his body, Wave being ruthlessly choked until his muscle and bone caved in and finally, there was the one sight that she never thought she'd find herself being worried by, the very thing that she once desired for so many months on end had become one of her greatest fears.

The thought of her big sister, Akame being forced to lay flat on the ground with the Dark Lord's boot resting rather neatly atop her head, slowly pushing down, applying more and more pressure until she screamed in agony with blood spilling out of her nose, mouth, eyes and ears, the bones giving in with horrific cracks and pops and all throughout the experience until her cranium became nothing but red goop and white shards, the man would just have the most emotionless stare in all of existence as though the action was as basic and natural as taking a walk around town which he would keep all throughout every murder until he reached her.

At the very exact moment the thought finished, Kurome found herself being filled with even more fear and started to push herself further and further, just barely being able to last through the strain with her legs just pleading, begging for her to stop which she never would and as this continued on, her thoughts began to go out of control.

"Where the hell is everyone?!" She desperately asked herself. "Wave? Bols? Someone has got to be here I know it!" Deep down inside however, she knew that there was the very likely chance that this wouldn't be the case and that out there, in those woods, that was going to be her final resting place and it wouldn't be brought about by her sister, her own hand, Night Raid or anyone else but her own brother, a thought that filled her with as much terror as it did questions.

Why had they never heard of him until now? What exactly led to him falling to the darkness? Why did he have this obsession? Who exactly were those people named Han and Leia? What exactly was that furry creature in her memories? HOW did everyone avoid telling them about this for so long? All this and more came flying through her head at a breakneck pace and with every possible answer she came up with, there seemed to be literally hundreds more questions that followed with her soon being left with absolutely no time to answer them all much to her disappointment since if anything, Kylo Ren was quite possibly the very last person she'd expect to be her sibling.

Sure his looks matched up with hers and Akame's but as far as everything else was concerned such as the personality, the presence and even their supposed parents, it was completely different from what was expected which left her just hoping, pleading to the heavens high above that this was just a psycho with a sword who only believed they were related or that all this was just another one of her nightmares. Her focus wouldn't be on this for much longer however since in just a few seconds, the swordswoman felt a sudden sharp sting in her thighs like someone had sliced her flesh open, causing her to go flying through the air and towards the ground only to then feel arms catch her mid-flight, her vision filling with white once the figure made their landing, allowing her to let out a sigh of relief that it wasn't Kylo Ren though what sounded like his growls faintly echoed in her ears.

Instead, the figure's voice was warm and gentle, very much like a certain someone.

"Are you alright?" Taking a moment to examine the thin red line on her thigh, Kurome let out a sigh of relief once she realized that there was no heavy injury.

"I think I a-Run?" Sure enough, when the swordswoman raised her head, she was greeted by the warm comforting smile of the former school teacher who she remembered last seeing making preparations to board a First Order shuttle to assist their fight. Though there was something that felt rather... odd about the whole experience, like there was just no possible way for the man to hear her calls of anguish and fear in time to make a rescue. However she quickly threw it out a few seconds later, chalking it up to her being just a bit too paranoid though she definitely did have to ask.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were with the First Order."

"I was," The blonde said with a nod. "but they eventually took out all the Revolutionaries so I decided to just start doing some reconnaissance over in this area and that's when I saw you running." A few seconds later, the tone changed into that of concern. "Speaking of which, what happened to you back there?" The swordswoman took in a long and hard breath, her mind and heart deeply urging her to put this Kylo Ren business out of her head while also seeming to scream at her for some reason that who she is telling this to is not who she thinks she is which to her was completely ridiculous. After all, Run was the only other person aside from Wave who seemed to show some actual deep concern for what could possibly happen to her, what was there to hide from him? With this in mind, Kurome finally let out her breath and spoke though what came out wasn't exactly the truth.

"Night Raid managed to escape the fight with Vitani," She lied. "they knocked out Wave and Bols and are looking for me all across this forest and the worst part of all, our general didn't seem to care and has essentially left me to die." The blonde set her down, his hands still grasping her shoulders.

"Oh my lord that's horrible!" He called out. "Are the others safe?" Kurome nodded.

"As soon as they were knocked out, they just gunned for me but at the very least, I'm very, VERY glad to see you here." Smiling, the warrior nodded.

"I share your sentiments exactly." He said in a tone that seemed oddly false in her mind though her joy over seeing her ally again purged the thought from her head. "Tell me, have they caught up to you?" She gave him a shake of her cranium.

"It was tricky but I was able to lose them through both a combination of my puppets and my wit which allowed me to head off here."

"That's great to hear." Using one arm to bring her closer, the blonde began to slowly reach into his pocket, possibly for some medical supplies. "Though what happened to your leg, it doesn't look like an injury inflicted by Night Raid." Realizing he might be catching onto her lie, the swordswoman tried desperately to search for something, anything that would be considered plausible when she recalled both her puppet as well as the pink-haired sniper and for the sake of making it believable, she chose the latter.

"One of them managed to get a shot on me, one that I was just barely able to dodge but as you can see, it isn't a very large wound and looks as though it only scraped the surface." Taking a moment to examine the small wound, Run drew from his pocket a single thin needle which at first could be considered a little odd but then she thought back to how the man from time to time did like to come prepared for a fight, often raiding medical cabinets for the sake of making sure he could act as the medic on the battlefield. Ignoring this small little detail, the swordswoman just buried herself deeper into the torso, her head smothering his chest, exposing the pale back portion of her neck, a sight that Run couldn't help but find somewhat pleasing.

"This is exactly what I need," He thought as he raised the needle. "I'm sorry Akame but I just can't let you put yourself through this, it's for your own good." At that point, something began to go off within Kurome's mind, the situation seeming far less safe than what she initially expected though without knowing what it was, she only expected the worst and felt her mind constantly cycling between Night Raid and Kylo Ren like a slot machine with the only unchanging element being the state of unrest in her mind. Not giving it much attention, the blonde was just about ready to embed the sharp tool straight into the neck flesh, his expression showing not a single hint of remorse. Finally after a few more seconds and without making another sound, the arm didn't even move a complete few inches when he felt a brutal force slam right into his chest causing him to split from Kurome and go flying into a tree behind him. Her fear quickly rising, the swordswoman watched as the unconscious Run soon shifted into that of a red-haired woman in a skirt, the needle slipping out of her hands a few seconds later. Before she could even react, Kurome felt her reflexes kick into high gear as she immediately rolled to the side, watching as the red blade was just inches away from cutting her face. Realizing she was backed into a corner, she immediately drew her sword, ready to fight to which the man responded by raising his blade high into the air, ready to clash.

Giving it her all, Kurome tried her hardest to block every brutal strike made by Kylo while also trying to counter with her own which he effortlessly dodged and would often after every three or so times catch her off-guard with a devastating punch to the gut followed by another ruthless strike which would slice into a tree or the ground almost every single time, leaving her to watch as the structures came crashing down with the slice point usually having an orange molten burnt look to it. Regardless of all this, one thing was for certain. With every strike or miss that the Dark Lord seemed to make, the more enraged he would get as his attacks started becoming less and less graceful and were starting to look more like how a blood-lusted maniac in the streets would swing a sword. Finally after a few more swings, Ren raised his blade up into the air with Kurome holding the weapon up in front ready to defend it. There with a roar that only could be matched by a Danger Beast, the red blade came crashing down with a force so great that the swordswoman felt herself being knocked down onto the ground, dropping her weapon in the process. Before she could fall down completely however, she watched as the man's arm came thrusting out towards her and in just a few short seconds, she felt as though a massive invisible hand wrapped itself around her throat, slowly crushing her muscles and causing her to gasp and gag as she was lifted into the air all the while the Dark Lord stared her down.

"You're a fool!" Kylo shouted. "I was ready to rule the galaxy with both my sisters and you blew it!" Trying her best to try and speak, the Dark Lord's grip suddenly tightened, causing her to let out a series of violent hacks.

"Do you think this is a game?! That you can just resist the Dark Side?!" A few seconds later, taking a nice deep breath, Ren with a roar and his grip still on her throat swiped his arm to the side, slamming her body against a tree, the force causing shards of bark to shatter. Not being given enough time to process the pain or even to notice the seemingly cauterized gunshot wound on his side, the swordswoman found herself being thrashed onto the ground as well as multiple other objects as the Dark Lord ranted.

"How dare you?! How dare you defy me, your own brother!" After being beaten to the point her body felt like one massive bruise and her mind in a daze, Kurome could only watch as the warrior held her out in front and with one last burst of strength, he jerked his arm forward, causing her to go flying back into another tree but instead of being pulled off again, she could feel as he instead kept the pressure on and began to stomp towards her, jerking his lightsaber out to the side.

"I was ready to show you the new world." He said with a low growl, finding himself just inches away. A few seconds later, the girl felt as the telekinetic hold on her was released finally allowing her to breathe but only for a split-second as the Dark Lord's hand immediately gripped her by the throat, his steely grip tightening around her muscles, threatening to snap the bones and forcing her to look him directly in the eyes as he seemed to aim his weapon towards her exposed chest. After a few seconds of chilling silence, the swordswoman felt in her midsection the sheer heat of the plasma blade, indicating that he had the weapon literally mere inches away from her flesh which meant that if she were to make one wrong move, she'd be inviting herself into a whole world of agony. Noticing her fear, the Dark Lord at long last finished his comment.

"Now I'll have to build it on top of your grave and hope Akame will fare better." With that said, the warrior drew his weapon back, ready to stab into her. Realizing this might be her final moment in the living world, the assassin shut her eyes, every memory she had seeming to come rushing in all at once right as a single tear trickled down at the same time as she let out an apology.

"I'm sorry Akame for not going with you." Without any sort of sound, the Dark Lord was ready to thrust his blade forward when suddenly, his reflexes alerted him to something off to the side causing him to jerk his head a few seconds too late as a large blue fist came crashing into his chest, causing the wind to be knocked out of him right as he was sent a few feet back. Using the Force to recenter himself and regain his composure, he looked up and ended up both seeing and hearing something that filled him with rage.

"As long as I'm here, you are not going to harm Kurome, not on my watch!" Wave shouted, carefully wrapping the now unconscious girl in his arms much to the distaste of Kylo who could feel his anger reach its boiling point. Without any sound, the warrior was just about to take a step forward when a faint white object came flying towards him and as soon as it touched the ground, the man draped in white was just about to let out a rage-filled cry when he froze, his eyes centering on him.

"Is... is that...?" Cocking his head to the side, the Dark Lord in as discreet of a manner as he could, lightly probed his mind for any information he could use and found the name that both he and Vitani have been desperately searching for.

"Tatsumi, at long last we meet." Kylo said with a massive hint of anger, dropping into a fighting position. "I think you know who I am don't you?" The boy found himself being filled with far more fear once the realization hit him. The one who was contacting him earlier, the one who caused him so much pain and suffering, the one who destroyed his village and caused all those nightmarish visions for Akame was standing right before him, looking far more terrifying than what Leone's descriptions would suggest as well as his own assumptions and the same was especially present for Wave who by this point, realized just how much trouble he would've been in had he gone and faced the man.

"This energy, it feels... cold." The man thought to himself, staring at the warrior for only a few more seconds before shifting to the unconscious swordswoman. "No wonder she was so frightened by him in her dreams, this... this... this isn't just a man I'm looking at, not with this energy. We're looking at what is quite possibly a true psychopath and one we're definitely not engaging. Right?" The man shifted his gaze towards his opponent, hoping to see a man that was ready to run.

Only to then be disappointed when he saw the armored warrior lower into a fighting stance, his voice being filled with hatred.

"You're the one who killed my family and friends!" He growled. "The exact same bastard that destroyed all I held near and dear to my heart!"

"Good to see you can connect the dots." Kylo coldly replied.

"Don't you mock me! I'm going to make sure that you feel the pain of every life you took as well as my own!" Tatsumi wasted no time and drew his weapon, Wave watching as the blade was just a few inches from him.

"This isn't good," He thought. "Tatsumi doesn't realize he's completely outmatched especially with... what is that?" Taking a closer look, the man felt his face twisting with a slight bit of fright once he saw a small familiar golden object on a black gloved hand, one that was present on General Hux a few moments ago. "Oh shit, when did he get that?! That means even if Tatsumi gets the upper hand he's done for and I can't do anything about it!" A few seconds later, Wave managed to catch in his peripheral vision what seemed like a red blob which upon closer inspection, was something he'd never thought he'd expect to see.

Laying against the tree, looking unconscious at the very least was a red-haired girl who most likely was a member of Night Raid since there was no reasonable way for any civilian to be out and about during a duel like this and despite the initial hatred he possessed, he at long last came to accept one simple reality or at least, one that he hoped was a reality as otherwise, death was a certainty.

In order for the Earth to live on, the forces of Night Raid and the Jaegers had to put aside their differences and band together otherwise, survival was going to be impossible and with this in mind, the man felt an idea jump into his head and without wasting any time, he acted upon it, rushing towards the unconscious body of Chelsea with Kurome and her blade still in his grasp. Without any words, the Dark Lord turned his attention towards the man and was just about to thrust his arm out when Tatsumi came charging with a battle-cry, blade held over his head.

"Forget him, you're fighting me!" His reflexes kicking in, Kylo thrust his blade into a blocking position and watched as the Imperial Arms came crashing into the red blade, causing sparks to fly upon impact. Watching as Tatsumi stumbled backward, the Dark Lord took note of the burning hatred inside of him. He watched as how the boy's composure was almost completely gone and in its place was a rampaging beast that was just begging to be released which was almost the exact same as his grandfather. With that in mind and a smirk behind his mask, the Dark Lord without hesitation charged towards the warrior as one thought entered his mind.

"The Dark Side is flowing through you. Good, it's about time you let it in."


	23. Chapter 23

( _Undisclosed Forest_ )

"There is no individuality, there is purpose and yours is to give your life to serving and protecting the ideals of the First Order as without your assistance, you will be partly responsible for letting terrorists such as the Resistance roam free. Show no mercy, always remain vigilant and if you or anyone else dares to keep submitting to insubordination, we will not hesitate to put you down." From the very beginning of the Galactic Empire all the way through its downfall, it was those words, those very words which were echoed to every Stormtrooper who first completed their training and was usually said after one had taken their oath. Way back then, many troopers could recall how this was the only spot where they heard it as the First Order in its early days didn't exactly fear the idea that a trooper would go rogue at first due to the indoctrination method of recruitment proving to be most successful.

Though as all soldiers now knew, this changed completely with the advent of FN-2187's defection.

Now the phrase was repeated quite literally at EVERY corner and opportunity the Order had to shove it in. The speakers in the Finalizer played it at various times throughout the day, new recruits and veterans were occasionally lined up to recite it along with General Hux and Phasma, they played it once before every mission and now with the amendments made following the issue that allowed the capture of infants, it was taught to one at birth. To the majority of those asked about how they could cope with this, they for the most part gave the exact same answer about how it would only serve to drive them to madness, causing a wedge to be driven between soldier and commander which in turn led to the former wondering how their fellow comrades could get through it all.

Of course, these were all made without any knowledge on what type of organization the First Order exactly was.

In one of the few cases where the teachings of old were kept, the military of the First Order was built upon the ideal that if one were to truthfully become the perfect soldier, all individuality and weakness had to be purged from the system to the point where even the most minor cases of self-questioning or disillusion would be left nothing but a forgotten myth like the days of the Jedi became when Palpatine rose to power and by the end of it all, one was quite shocked to find that while they still were far from perfecting it, the results still showcased a significant amount of promise as the troopers who went through it all showcased no signs of groveling, whining, defiance or anything of that nature and would carry out their tasks in a way so organized and choreographed that one could possibly mistake them for droids.

Though as it was just mentioned, it definitely had its faults. After all, the recruits were just men and women who were plucked from various points across the galaxy, forced to undergo an extensive indoctrination process that would turn them into the obedient legions of fear that they were now and as such were nowhere near as easily programmable as clones meaning that the idea of one just going rogue at the drop of a hat was always a heated point of discussion especially after the issue of FN-2187 came to light. But then the subject of the changes made to the First Order's training regiment would almost always, ALWAYS be brought up and ever since then, there has been not a single documented case of troopers defecting or showing as much compassion thus making the idea impossible right? Right?

If one were to look at what was going through the head of Officer FN-2000 as he continued to breathlessly charge through the forest, they would be given an answer that absolutely no one was wanting to hear or expecting for that matter from one as high ranking as he was.

Being a part of and one of the only surviving members from the exact same fighting squadron as Nines and Eight-Seven while also being the grandson of loyal troopers that met their demise when the second Death Star went down, FN-2000 otherwise known by his nickname Zeroes not only knew just how painful it was to lose a brother on the battlefield both through death and betrayal but he also had a natural seething hatred for all things related to the Resistance as if it wasn't for them, he would've been able to see his grandparents again rooting for his success in the First Order and it was this in particular that drove him to rise above all ranks and against all odds, he along with Nines at long last achieved part of their goals when they were assigned the ranks of Officer and Riot Control commander/recruit trainer respectively.

Together with their bond and skill, they made certain to let the whole galaxy know that even with their newly rechristened hope after Starkiller was destroyed, it was nothing but a farce that would be crushed by the Order in their pursuit for peace and that anyone who dares to try and strike back or even utter a single word about how the Jedi would return would simply not be tolerated any longer as they were considered slanderers and enemies to the galaxy. However even with all the time that has passed and the duo's shared hatred for the Resistance, the two couldn't help but feel as one question kept looping again and again in their mind, constantly nagging at their being for what they assumed was going to be all eternity.

Why did Eight-Seven run away? What exactly went off in his mind to cause him to make such a drastic, reckless and in their eyes, a very stupid decision?

While the thoughts within Nines certainly were never explored that much by him as he always put the Order first and foremost above all personal matters, it was Zeroes who found that with every second his being spent in this universe, the idea always remained, constantly taunting, prodding, begging for him to examine it more closely than what he was doing currently. It got so bad in fact that the officer actually went to both Hux and Phasma about the issue with the advice that came out of their mouth both being the exact same.

"That's nothing but the distant past, move on and focus on the future." Despite how simple the idea sounded at first, it was the days that followed where FN-2000 felt that the issue was becoming worse and worse to the point where it was almost as though he was a lowly moisture farmer on the desert world of Tatooine and the thought was like the Tusken Raiders in that no matter how many times he'd swear that he scared them off, they would always be back and in far, FAR greater numbers until the idea of simply ignoring it became an impossibility.

Everything got so bad in fact that every time he would enter what was supposed to be the safe, peaceful sensation of slumber, all he ever found himself dreaming about was the exact same retread of him first walking through the doors to the Finalizer's training room to meet his fellow recruits. At first he thought nothing of it but being a man who at the very least knew of the Force, he noticed how every time the scene repeated, there always seemed to be a difference that distinguished it from the previous and again, there wasn't much to comment on as for the most part the change was literally his teammates' expressions which looked more as if they were filled with fear than they were with wonder and while it was unsettling, it was way too small to be considered anything more than just a quirk.

Little did he know that was only the beginning.

As time went on and on, not only did the expressions change but every single piece of imagery and audio shifted into something far more eerie, demented and disturbing. The sterile shimmering hallways became rusted and bloodied, most likely due to the corpses that were slumped against the walls. Everything had a reddish tint to it, his teammates including Nines who originally didn't change looked as though they were either all impaled or standing in front of a wild hungry Gorag as he couldn't read if it was pain they were showcasing or pants-wetting fear. But what was possibly the most horrific of all was a change so simple and yet so unbelievably eerie that it made everything, including bloodied halls which eventually started showing a rather disinterested Kylo Ren walk through it all look as mundane as the perimeter checks they would make around the Destroyer. In previous iterations, it was as the troopers used to march through the halls that Phasma would close everything off with a simple speech along with a welcome to the First Order and it was there when the dream would end. The message that was uttered later on was nothing short of eerie as it remained the same with the exception of the last half.

"Welcome to hell." That simple utterance combined with the ignition of that serrated crossguard saber, the constant nagging of the thought during his every waking moment and the amount of stories he heard about Kylo's "tendencies" when it came to failure did a massive number on the trooper's psyche, the effects being more than a little worrying. His hardened, angry persona was slowly starting to dissipate as the feeling of timidness which was better associated with the newbies started to settle in its place, his respect for the hierarchy was shifting into that of concern and a slight bit of fright and finally with events such as how quickly Ren trusted Esdeath, the torture of Syura and the most recent systematic slaughtering of Revolutionaries as well as innocent everyday villagers now being permanently engraved in his skull, he felt incredibly queasy and after several minutes of running, he stopped to lean against a tree for a few seconds before soon rushing to remove his dome and without any hesitation, he bent over and felt as his breakfast and lunch came launching from his mouth in large discolored clumps all the while a single thought he never expected to have came rushing through.

"What are we doing?" The trooper mentally asked himself. "First we let someone in without much question, then we go through excessive torture and now we're slaughtering innocents? Is all this really necessary to achieve peace?" Had he asked that aloud where his fellow squadmates could hear, he knew exactly what they'd be asking and he would have an answer for just about every one of them.

"Weren't you on Jakku?" Zeroes had remained behind on that artificial asteroid Pressy's Tumble to make sure no more insurrections would pop up. Granted it was a little-known fact as even the official records of the event present on the Finalizer mistakenly labeled him as the one who assisted FN-3181 in hauling the Resistance pilot onto the shuttle.

"You've killed hundreds before, why is it you feel bad now?" While it was no secret that he did indeed engage and often murdered several adversaries during his time as a soldier, they were almost always Resistance troops who bit the dust and for the several that weren't, they still were Resistance sympathizers and insurrectionists who directly opposed everything the First Order stood for. The men, women and children they were killing now were NONE of those things and were just trying to go about their daily lives when his commanders decided that it would be best to make an "example" of them which if the conversations and dragging of bodies back to landing transports were to be believed, that example was to be a quite literal burning at the stake like it was the dark ages.

And unlike the troopers who were continuing their ventures on the planet, Zeroes's thoughts told a completely different story.

"I knew when I signed up for this that it wasn't going to be pretty but at no point did I think THIS was what we'd come to." Wiping the last bit of vomit from his lips, Zeroes let out a series of quick breaths before he slowly turned back towards the path he had run along.

"They'll be calling me back soon. Even with me telling them I was going to be scouting the area I know they'll be calling me back." Feeling the sweat beginning to really pour down his brow, Zeroes let himself lean against the tree, allowing his mind a chance to glance back over what he had just did a few minutes earlier, the images of a child whose screams were just barely able to beat out a shouting commanding officer with waves after waves of excuses being thrown out playing through his mind like some sort of twisted film with the "ending" being that of a fade to black and silence which would soon be interrupted by the sound of him pulling a trigger and the child's voice suddenly ceasing, it being followed by a long period of slight murmurs before finally being broken by a request to scout the area which was what both brought him to where he was now as a sweating, panting mess regretting what should've been a relatively mundane task for most troopers.

A manner that just so happened to be very similar to Eight-Seven following the attack on Jakku and once that came to mind, Zeroes's head played back a memory of that time. It was just a few seconds after everyone had returned, the prisoner was being hauled off towards a cell with soldiers at his side and everyone so far was going about their regular tasks.

Except for one.

He could recall it clear as day as he walked past the open transport how FN-2187 hobbled through the crowds, trying his best to contain himself like a drunk at the cantina as he made his way inside the structure, letting out several staticy breaths like he would at the end of a combat drill which would continue all the way through the moments leading up to him grasping his helmet and seemingly proceeding to lift it up over his head or at least, that's what it looked like to a man like him who was far too occupied by a request for assistance by the mess hall to really pay close attention to it though he really hoped that wasn't the case as it was stated in the regulations that a trooper must never remove their helmet without the permission of a commanding officer like Hux and Phasma.

But then again, their answers were never going to change from anything other than a big fat "no." so more often than not he found himself breaking this rule just for the sake of allowing himself to breathe and in the case of now, the motions were almost verbatim what he saw Eight-Seven go through and considering the records, the events looked similar as well. But before he could ponder this any further...

"OH YES!" His training kicking in, Zeroes felt himself jolting upright, his helmet lowering back down on his head followed up by his hands instinctively snapping towards the blaster. A few seconds later, another very similar noise was let out.

"HARDER NINES! HARDER!" His years of training having taught him all he needed to know about recognizing a sound, it took no more than a few seconds of thought to figure out who had that valley girl type of voice and once the name of his fellow comrade was bellowed out, it did nothing but confirm it and at the same time, it filled his mind with questions. Why was Mez screaming out Nines's name? They couldn't have been attacked as the voice sounded far too excited but even then the screams usually would come during arguments and considering how close it all was, something just didn't feel right about it.

"YES!" Using his senses, the trooper found himself being directed towards a small bush that was just sitting rather inconspicuously behind the tree he rested up against which upon closer inspection had little hints of what seemed like white armor and blonde hair poking through and considering the sounds that followed, it both confirmed that they were indeed incredibly close... and possibly that they were incredibly "close". Shaking the dirty thoughts from his head, Zeroes slowly and carefully made his way towards the bush, raising his hands up to part everything to the side. As the green spread apart, the trooper's imagination went wild with what he might see with the dirty thoughts from earlier unfortunately returning and in full force alongside the far less unreasonable idea that what could be happening is a simple sparring session.

Upon getting a clear viewpoint, Zeroes found himself wishing that was the case once the sight of bare flesh smacking against bare flesh among a small pile of loose clothes and a helmet unfortunately graced his eyes and after about a minute when Mez finally said that she was "close", the trooper found himself closing the small viewpoint, taking a small moment to think about what exactly he just witnessed before proceeding to make his way back down the way he came from, his mind going absolutely nuts.

"What in the blazes has gotten into those two?! Don't they know we're fighting a war?!" A few seconds later, he ended up taking it back, all the while mumbling to himself about just how dumb that really was. Of course the two know they're involved in a war, Nines was a trooper who had to constantly make that clear to everyone who dared to joke in the Order that they were doing just that and how their ridiculous behavior was not at all tolerated. The question he really should've been asking was both the blatantly obvious and one he had asked prior.

Just what exactly HAD gotten into them? Did the simple job of sniping just drive the man insane from waiting all that time for his target? Just how in the moons of the planet Bogden did FN-2199, who was quite possibly the most hardened soldier that the Order had ever seen second only to Phasma, believe that fornication with his partner was actually a very necessary and reasonable idea at that moment?! He pondered over this question for a good couple of minutes which soon led him to yet another thought, a thought that was nowhere near as ridiculous as this but one thing was for certain.

It caused his demeanor to go from being shocked to being filled with concern.

Following their slaughter of the villagers, Zeroes could remember hearing his fellow comrades engaging in casual conversation as he moved away from it all which he remembered was quite the normal practice for the grand majority of the missions he'd been on which meant it wasn't anything new or startling. But it was not until that very moment, that one moment where he witnessed the intercourse that he came to the realization about exactly how horrible this was.

These casual talks and actions similar to what occurred between Nines and Mez, they happened after EVERY mission.

No matter what the task they completed was whether it be a simple package retrieval, quelling of an insurrection or a battle with the Resistance, it was almost always followed up with a simple calm conversation about their daily lives regardless of what they might've bore witness to beforehand. Thinking back to Jakku, Zeroes remembered how aside from Eight-Seven, the discussions held between those who weren't guiding the prisoner focused not on who they killed, not on what Kylo did and not even the prisoner. It was instead just a simple chat about how amazing it would be to finally get a good meal after a hard day's work. There wasn't a hint of remorse or anything along those lines, they just put it out of their minds as though it was something as mundane as a perimeter check and the only time this ever changed was when Starkiller was destroyed but even then, it took little more than a week before everyone was back to doing what they always did without a shred of care.

And Nines, a man whose body-count was in the high thousands, repeated that act the very moment he decided to engage with Mez which left Zeroes's flabbergasted and conflicted with only one thought on the mind.

Was this the reason Eight-Seven left?

 _Meanwhile..._

"His skills are absolutely astonishing, almost like that of a trained Jedi Knight."

"I'm sure Tatsumi has gotten far stronger with how many beasts he has killed along with the training he received in the Imperial Army, your troops will be no match for him." Being one who had by that point sharpened his lightsaber skills to what he and Snoke could both agree was near perfection, being the one student who took the time to take in as much of the seven forms of lightsaber combat as he could, being the one who had spent hours and hours on end in the temples studying the uncovered holocrons on various Sith such as Bane and Revan, the Dark Lord had thought of these very two quotes as nothing but ridiculous boasts.

The latter was of course one he knew already as it was the last thing his very first kill on the planet belted out but as far as the first was concerned, this one in particular had him slightly curious as it was said to him directly by FN-2199 who had dueled the warrior prior though for some reason whenever he tried to obtain the name from him, he'd mention how it was at the top of his head but at the moment he just couldn't remember which he chalked up to a case of temporary memory loss as when he was brought in, he was out cold despite having little-to-no injuries. Despite this, he felt he could at least make a smart guess and decided that ultimately, even if it was the exact same boy they were looking for, he highly doubted that he was the one who took down his top trooper, especially not after he described how badly he was able to screw him up.

To Kylo Ren, he was fully expecting the boy's dueling skills to be nothing more than a basic pitiful series of slashes and blocks that wouldn't even be able to surpass a Padawan and honestly, no one could blame him as during his training, he was forced to do battle with a wide variety of opponents including specters of Jedi and Sith, training droids and finally, the Supreme Leader himself who didn't even use a lightsaber and instead, opted to channel the Force through an every day object to use it for dueling purposes which despite the oddness of it made him out to be one of the most deadly warriors he ever could've faced, one that was far beyond that of what he and the desert girl could ever hope to accomplish.

The way he expected the duel to turn out was that of Tusken Raider trying to kill a Rancor with Kylo especially relating to the latter and while one could bring up the fact he lost to an untrained scavenger as proof of why his hopes were nothing short of pathetic, he would very quickly bring up the fact that back in those days, he was an absolute wreck when it came to his emotions, the bowcaster shot caused him to lose a lot of blood and instead of using a snow-speeder which would've been a whole lot faster and more convenient, he instead decided that amplifying his running speed was the most sound option out there, not taking into consideration just how fatigued he already was with his emotions, his father's death and his wound which seemed to drip even more as he rushed through the snow. All this combined with just how arrogant he was to only focus on very first form of combat and not at all train himself in dealing with the fact that the Force can guide a person's movements played a major role in leading to his defeat and had Hux not found him as quickly as he did, he surely would've perished on that base.

Which was why he thanked the Force for keeping him alive as now, the Dark Lord that graced the Earth's soil was no longer the weak fractured fool he was before which especially showed in his lightsaber which when compared to the old was far less crude in design and while it still did use the cracked Kyber crystal, it still did it's job in being one of the most deadly weapons ever conceived by any Force-user and with how so far, the planet's warriors had shown not a single hint of skill or technology that at the very least came close to the Order's, he was ready for Tatsumi to fall like the rest of them...

That all changed when the fight began.

In the first few seconds, the boy came flying through the air with a loud roar of pure hatred not unlike that of a Sith, his blade thrashing against his lightsaber with such sheer force that he felt his feet dig into the dirt ever so slightly which came as quite the mighty surprise for someone who was expecting the fight to be a cake walk. Before he could really ponder over this, he found himself at the mercy of an absolute onslaught of strikes by Tatsumi who was just throwing everything he had right at him, his speed and tenacity matching that indeed of a Jedi in their prime as with every swing he made, he immediately backed up and using the ground for leverage, he came leaping forward in a blur of silver, black and white. It was unlike anything the Dark Lord had ever faced before with the only experience that came close being the sessions involving the training droids which would often try to mimic the styles of previous Force-users with one of their most recognizable settings being that of a black and red Zabrak warrior which upon switching to it, they'd often become so fast and so furious that it looked almost as though they were moving at the speed of light which even with the knowledge of it being nothing but a shameless replica was still considered to be quite impressive and that especially held true for Tatsumi and his own skills which definitely gave his already well-sharpened Soresu some very, VERY well-deserved competition.

After several minutes of blocking and parrying and flashes of red and silver, the two weapons finally locked together and it was here when during the struggle, Kylo noticed something behind the eyes of the Imperial Arms, something that any Dark Side user should be looking for whenever they feel they need an apprentice, something that Snoke could see the very moment the two locked eyes.

He didn't just see the eyes of a boy, he saw the eyes of conflict and hatred, a sight that perfectly matched that brief moment when he probed his mind in an effort to block out the Light Side influence and caused him to have a small grin.

"Well that elder wasn't so foolish after all. You are quite skilled." Kylo commented, watching as the boy tensed up with rage. "And considering how much anger and promise you're showing, maybe he was one I shouldn't have killed so early." With a grunt, the boy roughly pushed forward, his strength "causing" Kylo to back up though really, he stepped back on his own accord and a few seconds later, he followed it up with another series of slashes. Letting the Force guide his movements, the warrior did not feel a single hint of tension or worry in his body as his saber continued to clash with the blade and even when the boy threw in the occasional curve-ball and would try to strike him with his fist or leg, he'd simply sway to the side as though the act of combat was more like that of a graceful dance which was especially frustrating his combatant.

"And I thought that trooper was calm, this man's just going through the motions like they're nothing!" Tatsumi thought to himself, his rage continuing to grow. Feeling he had just about enough, after a few more minutes the boy launched his fist forward in an effort to knock the Dark Lord down only to watch as he swayed to the side and before he could realize it, he felt the sharp sting of pain ripple through his system right as his leather boot came crashing into his side, the force of which sending him stumbling backward. As he grasped his injured abdomen, Kylo twirled his blade, his voice being almost disturbingly calm.

"You're never going to defeat me with skills as sloppy as yours. The whole point of using your anger is to allow it to enhance your skills, not diminish them." Despite wearing a helmet, Kylo could tell with the way the yellow eyes peered at him that they held nothing but pure hatred for his very soul, acting as just further vindication that the dark energy he sensed did partially come from him. His grin becoming even wider, Ren continued on. "Then again, the village never learned from that mistake eith-" Ren immediately held up his saber right as the sword came crashing down overhead.

"Shut up!" Tatsumi growled as he continued to hammer him with strikes, strikes that the Dark Lord was effortlessly blocking, dodging and parrying without as much as a second thought. Everything was going according to plan, the boy was incredibly skilled sure but as expected, he was turning out to be absolutely nothing compared to his own training or even Vitani's for that matter.

"Really?" Kylo said. "If you still think this will work, you're quite pathetic."

And he was absolutely right in every way as the only reason Tatsumi was even putting up such a good fight against him with his Force powers and all was the simple fact that he wasn't even giving it his all since if that happened, the boy would be left down on the ground in millions of tiny indistinguishable pieces of burnt flesh. However as the intention of the duel was to draw it out for as long as he could to both determine his usefulness and to let the ring he "borrowed" from Hux to regenerate with Dark Side energy, there was simply no need for him to try and rush the outcome and instead, he rather enjoyed the easygoing nature of it all and how with just a few pivots and turns, all of the boy's strikes were being reflected with ease.

However it seemed as though the warrior noticed as upon him backing away from an overhead strike, he let out another roar of hatred.

"FIGHT ME YOU COWARD!" Seeing as that sounded almost exactly like something a Dark Lord of the Sith or at least an apprentice would say, Kylo couldn't help but chuckle before proceeding to look down towards his ring, his eyes lighting up upon noticing that it was near the halfway point of being charged.

"Very well." Kylo said calmly. "You'll get your wish." Without any hesitation, the Dark Lord rushed forward with blade raised with Tatsumi preparing for the seemingly telegraphed overhead strike when suddenly, his vision took notice of the several trees shaking and shifting and before he knew it, the giant pieces of nature came ripping through the air at speeds almost incomprehensible.

"Just like that Vader guy did to me, could they be related?" Tatsumi thought as he raised his sword, his window of time to make his move being that of a measly few seconds. Acting quickly, he immediately punched through the hunks of bark with relative ease, the objects shattering to pieces just a mere second upon impact. Right then before he could really conduct himself, the Dark Lord came ripping downward through the air with his scarlet blade held up over his head. His instinct taking control, Tatsumi thrust the sword outward at just the right time as the blade came crashing down onto his, the sheer magnitude of it causing him to go stumbling backward as he continued to defend against the Dark Lord's strikes which also seemed to be driven purely by instinct.

He drew their strikes to his attempts at parries, using the Force to drive his ripostes with such degrees and thrusts of dark power that it subtly altered the boy's stance as well as disrupted his flow and timing. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced throughout his entire time as an assassin. It was almost as though the warrior had the prediction and strength of Zank combined with the speed and tenacity of all the Jaegers combined and needless to say, that was one combination he really wished was just fiction but regardless, he had no choice but to meet it head on.

There was a break in the flurry of silver and red after several minutes which Tatsumi took advantage of by leaning forward into a brutal thrust which the Dark Lord blocked with ease with a rising parry followed up by him thrusting his own arm outward, the boy feeling as an invisible force came slamming into his body, causing him to be sent a few paces back and his feet to drag across the ground.

"Interesting," Kylo began with head cocked. "you're clearly a young man and yet you fight at speeds that are slow, pitiful and predictable. You'll have to do far better than that to defeat me."

As expected, Tatsumi's response to this friendly word was to charge forward, a glint of vengeance showing in the armor's yellow eyes as he drew his weapon back, his aim clearly directed towards his heart. Taking one moment to glance at the progress of his ring's regeneration, the Dark Lord soon moved back into position and once again entered that usual series of parries, slashes and dodges though this time, it was certainly at a greater speed, so much greater in fact that during one moment when Kylo thrust forward, the boy just barely could maneuver out of the way and felt as the red hot plasma came burning through his abdomen, exposing his shirt and a bit of his flesh which was then followed up by a series of flashes.

The first was an overhand chop by Tatsumi that he assumed was an attempt to throw him off his guard but was quickly countered by a boot to the stomach. Barely regaining his composure, the second flash came with a spinning swing that forced him back and the third came in the form of a saber-lock that came so close to the boy's shoulder that Kylo took his chance and forced the external blades to come burning into his armor and had he not been deflected, it would've most definitely gone into his flesh.

Not giving the boy a chance to breathe, Kylo entered yet another flurry of slashes and began to let out a series of taunts.

"I can feel your anger burning within you and needless to say, it's worthless." Trying his hardest to concentrate on the fight, the boy tried his best to ignore it.

"All this time you've been waiting to kill me, all this time you've wanted to avenge your village..." Feeling his anger burning up, the boy shook his head right as he blocked another overhead strike.

"And yet here you're just struggling to keep up." Right as the boy's sword came thrusting forward, the Dark Lord casually deflected the strike with a flick of his wrist and charged forward, his style shifting into something far more acrobatic and aggressive with his strikes now coming in a multitude of different directions and with every time the boy managed to barely back away, he would be forced to meet with the red lightning, that lightning of course being Kylo's blade.

"Tell me, is this really what your friends taught you?" Kylo asked mockingly. "Because if so, your friends are clearly setting you up to fail."

"Shut up." Tatsumi growled.

"I'm just saying what is fact, your skills are atrocious."

"Shut up!" Blocking another series of strikes, Ren took another glance back at his ring.

"You have all this hate for me, all this anger but not once have you used them in a way that actually could be considered creative. It's like you're afraid of letting yourself go, unlike the villagers... as pathetic as they are at least they were able to fight." With a furious yell, Tatsumi launched into a series of flashing thrusts and slashes towards Kylo's legs, a sight that certainly had him far more pleased. At long last the boy was showing a bit more passion, passion that he could appreciate.

Passion he could exploit.

With all that fury he possessed and his desire to kill, Tatsumi had failed to notice that Kylo had met just about every single one of his attacks without so much as even moving his feet a few inches and his blade never moving a millimeter more than what was necessary, a skill that greatly reminded him of Akame and their various sparring sessions with how she just so easily deflected his strikes without as much as a bat of an eye and before he knew it, he wasn't at all on the offensive and had to desperately shift into a defensive stance as a streak of red came ripping through the air.

That red blade seemed to be everywhere, whirling and flashing faster and faster with every few seconds that passed until Tatsumi could see nothing but an electric red haze. As he continued to strike, Kylo took every chance he could to glance back at his ring, making sure that it was almost ready and finally just as the two entered a brutal saber-lock, he felt his eyes light up once he noticed the ring's eye having completely regenerated. Seizing his chance, the Dark Lord with a surge of energy thrust his arm outward, the same arm that had the ring so as soon as the boy started flying through the air, the ring sparked to life and a thin light beam came bursting outward, its aim being perfectly centered on the boy's armor and just as he was a few feet away from the tree behind him, Kylo watched as the white armor and blade itself basically exploded into several tiny shards. Now completely defenseless, Tatsumi felt as an overwhelming wave of pain washed over his spine upon colliding with the bark, knocking the wind out of him quite literally as darkness soon overtook him. Before the body could slide down the cylinder completely, Kylo flicked a finger towards him and watched as the boy's unconscious being came lurching towards him and as soon he was just a few inches away, he immediately wrapped his arms around his body and with a pleased expression, tapped into the Force to contact someone.

* * *

( _Undisclosed Pathway_ )

"I have the boy, leave them." Soon after hearing her master's orders, Vitani with a smirk kicked Najenda away and without any hesitation or a single word, switched her blade off and leaped away to make her exit, much to the anger of her adversaries, especially the commander who was just about to aim her prosthetic towards the escaping ice queen when Lubbock roughly pushed it down.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Lubba asked. "With how you look right now, there was no way you would've survived the counterattack."

"I agree with Lubba here, just look at us." Listening to Leone's words, the boss took a look all around her and sure enough, her entire team definitely looked like it had seen better days with the amount of scratches, bruises, cuts and tears in the outfit though the ones she knew suffered the worst were two of her best members, Leone with her complete lack of an arm though at the very least, her Imperial Arms's regeneration ability would help them to reattach it but then there was the matter of the one she simply couldn't get back, the one warrior who had gone from weapon to friend in the little time that she'd known him and once she took a few seconds to glance at his lifeless corpse, she couldn't help but feel as her eye began to water once more, the feeling of grief and sorrow having been so uncommon during this time that it felt almost foreign to her.

"Susanoo..." She thought to herself. "I'm... I'm sorry I couldn't help you." Taking notice of their leader's depressed face, Lubbock couldn't help but let out a sigh as well as tears of his own. Susanoo may not have been someone he'd known all that well nor was he one he exactly got along with the most but just the fact that they had to lose yet another ally to the hands of Esdeath and the Empire, it was just as heartbreaking as the very first time it happened with Sheele's death and considering that now the boss was even affected by it, the man as well as the rest of the crew with the exception of Mine who was still somewhat out of it, did nothing but tilt their heads downward out of respect for their fallen comrade. Taking in a nice deep breath as the memories of the time they spent with him started flowing through their brains, causing them to be overwhelmed with sorrow for their loss. After a few moments of silence, the green-haired assassin turned his head toward the masked man just a few feet away, the same one Tatsumi knocked to the side and took note of just how helpless he looked.

Despite knowing that he was most likely and hopefully dead, it took every ounce of his being to keep from rushing over there and making sure. While he knew that Esdeath's new look, weapons and abilities showcased that she had absolutely no affiliation to the Jaegers in any way, shape or form anymore, that certainly didn't change the fact that at one point, she still did do so and this was all it took to get him fired up. After all that had happened to them, the green-haired assassin desired nothing more than to walk over to the body and tear into the flesh with his bare hands in the hopes that maybe, just maybe he could have him suffer through all the pain and agony that they inflicted on them which would hopefully bring them some form of relief. But as it stood right then, the man knew better, he knew that now wasn't the time to fight but a time to mourn and while it was certainly somewhat out of character, he couldn't care less and instead just kept his mouth shut and followed along out of respect for their fallen comrade.

Or at least, they would've if it weren't for the crunching of rocks and dirt that caused them to jerk their heads around to see an armored figure but not that of Tatsumi but rather, the same figure that fought him a few moments earlier. At first, Lubbock was ready to fight when he spotted something peculiar, something odd about the man and after a few more seconds of glancing he realized.

In his hands were not weapons but two unconscious girls and in his eyes were not a desire to fight but rather a desire for help.

* * *

 _Author's Addendum:  
_

 **Before I go, I just thought I would explain a few things, the first being about why this chapter took a bit longer than the rest and you see guys, the reasoning why I did that is mostly a combination of me being bored with writing this so I went on to do other things to keep myself interested and the fact that we are nearing the end of this story.**

 **You heard that correctly, very soon this fic will be coming to an end and I want to make sure that when that finale comes, hopefully you'll all enjoy what I put out. Now without giving anything away, let me just say right now that for those who love Empire Strikes Back, this ending will most likely appeal to you the most though if I'm asked, I also may just show off the alternate ending ideas I had planned or I could just discuss with you all what old rejected concepts I had. Would you like that? Please tell me in the reviews.**

 **Next, I would like to take this time to provide a public response to one of the reviews I received talking about a crossover idea I could explore. That idea being to cross Akame ga Kill with the PlanetSide franchise and before anyone asks, here is the pitch the person had:**

 _"_ _Title: Planet To Kill  
Summary: A New Coglomerate Black Ops, a Terran Republic Veteren and a Vanu Sovereign Elite. Three unlikely soldier are tranported into a world of corruption and decadence only because of a nuclear explosion. Now, like it or not, they'll have to survive with only each at their backs while also taking any trash that lurks in the Capital City and join an interesting that will for the most part, help them get back home.  
Inspiration: 'BlazBlue Ga Kill', 'The Dragon of Night Raid' and 'Hard to Kill'."_

 **Now I did respond to this earlier in my reviews but just in case the person doesn't look through the review section for the responses, I'm going to mainly be posting that response here but with a few added details on what I think starting with the concept.  
**

 **And I just have to say that as someone who enjoys arcs in media that focus on the standard foot soldier, I really do love the idea of having three soldiers each from a different faction being forced to work together to fight against a common enemy. Hell, a lot of my favorite EU novels are stories that just focus on those guys more than they do the Jedi such as Rogue Squadron, Twilight Company and my personal favorite, Before the Awakening so in that regard, it really does work and it definitely is something I would consider writing about.  
**

 **However there is just one major issue that I do feel needs to be mentioned since of course, I am a person and one with personal opinions and my personal opinion is something that may upset a few of you and that is... well...**

 **I'm just not all that into PlanetSide like... at all.**

 **Don't get me wrong, I've played the games and enjoyed every moment but as far as the story, characters, factions and weapons are concerned, I just found I couldn't get into it and I feel that with this in mind, writing a story about a franchise that I couldn't get into while also trying to make three unique OCs just doesn't look great for me and if anything, I feel the end result would more piss the fans of this franchise off and so with this in mind, I'm just going to say that for the time being, the idea will unfortunately have to be turned down. It's a cool idea don't get me wrong but I hope you understand my reasoning for doing this.**

 **Also as far as the Nines and Mez scene is concerned, think of it as Nines just letting his urges take control and not worry about it since it will be brought up later on.**

 **With all that said, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and that you will take care and have a good time.**


	24. Chapter 24

( _Undisclosed Pathway_ )

From the very moment he stepped out onto the cliff-side with the two unconscious girls in his arms, Wave felt a wave of discomfort wash over his entire being as soon as the group laid eyes on him, their stares being a mixture of both confusion and hatred so intense that it caused his mouth to suddenly go dry and his heart rate to pick up in pace, a sensation that he'd become all too familiar with from his time with the Jaegers and the heat of battle.

But unlike those previous times, it was deep down inside that the man felt it was entirely justified.

Even though he was technically making up for it by going out of his way to save the two warriors from the First Order, thus showing that he was ready to renounce his loyalty to Esdeath and the Jaegers, all the horrific crimes that the Empire had committed over the years was forever going to be a part of his history and that he was purely guilty just by association with them alone. Every life that has been taken, every home that has been burned, it didn't matter if he even took part in it or not, the air of sin was still going to haunt him for the rest of his days and no matter what there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

And to him, just that principle alone was enough to make him desire for a way to just turn back the clock to where he left for the Empire and tell his past self about everything that he will bear witness to, how the group he was joining up with wasn't fighting for truth, justice and peace, how he would be involved in countless grisly murders of innocent families and that bringing up the issue would earn him nothing but insults and constant attempts at justification which would leave the soul feeling so unclean that no amount of prayer, showers or sleep will ever wash it away. He just wished he knew all of what he was getting himself into so that he could at least have the chance to run, he wished that he was way less naive and that he would've opened his eyes sooner.

He wished that during that time him and Tatsumi were off in the mountains that he could've just asked the boy if he could allow him to join his attempt to return to Night Raid as at the very least the thought of him fighting on the right side would've been more than enough to soothe his soul and at least that way, he wouldn't have to live out the rest of his days knowing that he was once on the exact same side as rapists such as Wild Hunt or an otherworldly dictatorship like the First Order.

But then again, had all that happened, he never would've been able to meet the love of his life and had he been given the ability to go back in time, he never would've been able to meet up with such amazing friends such as Bols and/or Run and with all the hell that this world as well as the Empire put him through, it was always the thought of them that served as a reminder of how even the most demented, deplorable groups could still have at least one decent human being among their ranks.

The only unfortunate part was the fact that they even were a PART of it in the first place. In a team that consisted of an ice queen with an unhealthy obsession with torture, a terrifying scientist who continuously created abominations that were such atrocious crimes against nature and an orange-haired psycho who believes that the maiming of others is what true justice is about, the three who he'd come to share such a cherished connection with were those that regardless of how many times they disagreed, just simply did not belong. Run was an honorable school teacher who was so kind, so sweet and so logical that he was like an older brother to him. Bols despite his horrific past was a loving husband and father who genuinely cared for the safety of others.

And finally, there was her. The swordswoman who he once thought showed no care, the one who had initially treated him like dirt, the one who had such a dark tragic past, the one he was cradling in his arms.

If he had to pick out at least one good thing that came out of his recruitment into the Empire, he would've initially picked his friendship with Bols and Run but now with how things have progressed so far and with just how much she went through, his answer was now and forever will be meeting Kurome and every time he was asked the question, he would throw that out in a heartbeat. Sure at first she seemed disturbingly calm about the killings the committed and seemed just as mentally disturbed as the rest of the Empire but that was only at first glance and as the old saying went, one must never judge a book by the cover and no two people were quite the example like Bols and the swordswoman were.

From the very moment he heard her screams of fright from the nightmare along with the various talks they shared, the man found that Kurome had every reason to be as disturbed as she was and that underneath all the layers, he saw a sweet caring soul that unfortunately found itself drowning underneath a sea of abandonment, pain and agony both physical and mental and no matter how many times it tried over the years, it just couldn't rise above it all and seemed to be doomed to only come out in little bits and pieces.

That was until the First Order came around.

The moment the news came out about this unknown faction, that was when the swordswoman seemed to realize that no matter how hard she would try, she just couldn't keep up the facade of being this tough detached warrior any longer. As he witnessed beforehand, every time the name "Kylo Ren" was mentioned, she went pale and shivered. Every time she thought back to the Stormtrooper that shook her, she twitched with fright. Whenever she'd rest her eyes, her dreams never were filled with happy thoughts or even her sister anymore but instead a cloaked masked figure exactly like the one he met a few moments earlier would grace her mind, constantly hammering into her mind about how she needed to let the "Dark Side" in and that she couldn't hide from him forever with it always ending the one of two ways with either the man's hand around her throat or the sight of an older, scruffy-looking and yet oddly familiar stranger being pierced through the chest with a scarlet blade of plasma. All of this when coupled with how Honest wanted them to investigate it all and try to coax the group into an alliance and her past with the Empire as a whole slowly broke her down piece by piece until eventually, that metaphorical suit of armor she wore was all but completely gone, leaving her true personality out in the open at long last but not in the way the swordsman expected or even wanted as now, it was almost as though she was backed into a corner with no way to go.

At first, he could barely understand it and instead just tried his best to provide as much protection as humanly possible. But now, with the recent turn of events that led to him staring directly into the faces of who he once considered his enemies, their eyes glowering at him with grips being quickly tightened around weapons, as though they were ready to kill him, he could very much understand how she felt, how it was like to be in a situation that tricks you into believing you have the option of escape before proceeding to bash you over the head with how impossible it really was. Despite having over a million different places he could run off to, despite how he could easily jump over and speed away from it all, despite desiring nothing more than to simply get Kurome and the other girl to safety without having to deal with the threat of Night Raid, deep down the swordsman knew that in reality, he was trapped as even if he could outmaneuver the assassins, with the First Order now most likely knowing exactly what he did thanks to Kylo, him running away at that moment would just land him a one-way ticket to his deathbed and if what he had seen prior was to be of any indication, the way he'd meet his demise would be nothing short of agonizing.

Meaning that all Wave could do now was just try his very best to explain the entire situation and pray that they'd all listen and if that didn't work, he'd just have to pray his and Kurome's death would be quick and painless. Though at the very least with how the green-haired male was looking at him, it did give him at least some hope, however small it may be.

"Please, you have to help me!" The man pleaded with desperation. "These two are barely breathing! They need help!" As the rest of the group continued to stare on in silence, their distrusting frowns clearly being present, Lubbock couldn't help but think to himself just how sincere he sounded as well as the expression on his face. While he certainly wasn't quite ready to believe him just yet nor was he exactly that skilled at reading expressions and inflections, it was either just due to the current situation or the fact that he hadn't made one attempt to run away or engage them that got the assassin's gears turning. As this was going on, Leone was the first to speak, her voice showcasing her fatigue but still sounding cold and distrustful nonetheless.

"How do we know you're not the one who did this or better yet..." A few seconds later, her brow furrowed even more and her hand balled up into a fist. "what reason do you have for us to not just bash your skull in right at this second?"

"You've gotta believe me!" Wave cried out, his voice having the slightest but noticeable hint of fear. "These two were attacked by Kylo Ren, I just found them like this. You have to trust me!"

"Kylo Ren?" Lubbock thought right as his eyes widened. "Why would he be attacking his own allies? Does that mean Esdeath is the only one truthfully affiliated with the First Order?" While he was continuing down the path of logic, his allies were moving along the path of accusations and disbelief.

"Impossible considering we just dealt with Esdeath a few moments ago who is now with the First Order." Najenda noted. "Not to mention that she didn't even bother to strike you nor did this Kylo Ren ever appear to us on the field." At that point, Lubbock couldn't help but notice something seriously odd with both the commander's tone as well as her suggestion. With all the time which he has spent by her side, he thought she'd know by now that not everything has to be seen to be believed, that there do exist occasions where people are blindsided and that while they may not have seen it, the action was definitely within the realm of possibility and for the most part did actually occur. Not only that but considering that Kurome and Wave had been known for a little while now as both being a part of the Jaegers as well as his commander's reaction, it was almost as though she believed he also attacked his own teammate as well which wouldn't be too far off since she used Esdeath's decision to not attack them as an example despite the fact that they still had absolutely, positively NO idea about how Kylo Ren and the First Order even functions, meaning that for all they know, the man never considered himself a member and could just be trying to pick them off one by one and not even bother with a direct encounter with the whole team.

"It's not impossible!" Wave called. "You really have to believe me, I've done NOTHING to harm these girls! I'm not the enemy here!" Crossing her arms, the boss shot him a serious glower and before Lubba could open his mouth, she let out a response that was incredibly cold.

"Then take us to this Kylo Ren." At this point, the man really had to wonder what was exactly going through the boss's mind since none of what she was saying quite matched the woman he knew and in just a few seconds, the image of a blue-haired male came into his head which caused his eyes to both widen slightly with curiosity and dart back to Susanoo's corpse.

"Could that be the cause of all this?" He thought. "Did his death actually affect her that much?" It seemed like the most logical explanation but in that case, it still left him with more than a few questions as with all the time he had spent working by her side and all that he has seen, he knew very clearly that Najenda wasn't the type of person to get so wrapped up in grief, not even for her closest comrades and as shown from previous the experiences with the deaths of Bulat and Sheele, she certainly didn't want Night Raid to do so either which only made the situation even more odd. Whatever the reason might've been, he still had time to ponder over it as the gang was still wrapped up in their chat with the swordsman who was just staring at the commander with a face full of shock.

"I-I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me, if you really aren't the cause of all this then by all means take us to see this Kylo Ren." Realizing how ridiculous the idea was, Akame turned towards the boss, ready to speak her mind but before she could, Wave simply shook his head which left Najenda with quite possibly the coldest expression she had ever seen and with the way her one eye remained unblinking and locked straight with the boy's sight, she bared more than a little resemblance to a certain ice queen.

"So you're lying to us, is that right?" Wave tensed up.

"W-What?! No! I'm no-"

"Then what are you doing standing around here?" The commander's tone raised ever so slightly, possessing a dash of anger. "Either take us to where this Kylo Ren is or owe up to your lie, the choice is yours."

"I can't!"

"Then why don't you just owe up to the truth?"

"Look you really have to believe me! I found these two already like this! Why don't you get it?!"

"Do you at least have a witness?" Lubbock asked finally.

"The only one who was with me at the time saw it also." Wave said calmly, causing the assassin's eyes to light up a bit.

"Speaking of which where is Tatsumi?"

"I think the more important question to ask is why haven't you bothered to bring him along?" Najenda interjected, her voice even more snappish.

"He got caught up in a tussle with Kylo Ren." He said with a sigh.

"You mean you left him behind?!" Leone questioned angrily.

"It wasn't my fault, I tried to get him to leave with me but he just wouldn't budge," Wave explained. "I was left with no choice but to go off on my own because otherwise, the girls would've been killed."

"Do you at least know if he's still around?" Lubba asked, Wave shook his head.

"A few moments later as I was trying to find you guys, the trace of his aura just... vanished."

"And yet you didn't go back for him?!" Lubba shot the blonde a look right as the swordsman continued.

"Look if I could I would've but time just wasn't on my side! Getting the girls to safety was my top priority, what was I supposed t-" Before he knew it, the scout with a burst of rage and a cry of anger came leaping towards the cliff-side with Wave just barely being able to dodge the incoming fist.

"If you want us to believe your story and not become a blood splatter on my knuckles, you should've gone back and helped him!" The blonde growled.

"And then what? End up getting myself AND the girls killed?!"

"It'd be better than straight up lying to us!" The swordsman's eyes twitched with anger.

"For the last time, I'm NOT lying to you!" Before Lubbock could say anything, Najenda cut in.

"The odds were already stacked so high against you the moment you told us the girls were just barely breathing. Just admit it, set the two down and we may give you a swift painless death."

"And let Kurome suffer having to deal with the First Order? Over my dead body! I'm being as sincere as I possibly can!" Wave called out, his voice now being completely filled with fright. "Please, you have to believe me! I had no part in this whatsoever, I'm..."

"Innocent?" Leone said mockingly. "That's what they all say and no matter how many times they use that excuse, it still sounds just as patheti-"

"IT'S NOT AN EXCUSE!" The swordsman snapped. "WHY ARE YOU WASTING TIME WITH THIS?! DON'T YOU REALIZE THAT THIS IS NOT THE SITUATION TO BE HAVING THIS DISCUSSION?! I'M BEING SERIOUS HERE! I CAME ALL THIS WAY WANTING YOUR HELP SINCE IF WE DON'T WORK TOGETHER, THE FIRST ORDER WILL CRUSH US ALL!" A dead, eerie silence filled the air following the outburst, leaving the green-haired man with the most ample opportunity to really take in what the swordsman's intentions were.

And overall, he found there was absolutely nothing wrong with them.

Being one who has heard, seen and even dealt with those who tried to cover up their true intentions with pathetically crafted tall tales ranging from the somewhat normal sounding Danger Beast chasing them down towards near their position to the very ridiculous and not to mention incredibly stupid idea that they simply had wandered out into the area by complete accident despite it being very clear through their expression that they actually were purposefully heading towards them, he was both watching and listening to Wave like a hawk all in an attempt to find any sort of discrepancy that would prove him to be a remaining member of the Jaegers who was just presenting the bodies of those he had murdered to them like they had expected a band of sickos to and after a lot of deliberation, Lubba's answer was a very basic one.

"He's telling the truth." He thought to himself, his mouth agape not at the conclusion he came to but rather the way his comrades were treating him, especially when it came down to the commander who just from the expression on her face and how it was just barely making an attempt to hide her true thoughts was clearly not the same warrior that the man had first met and assisted in defecting to the Revolutionary Army way back then nor did she match the person who both had that private discussion with him and that argument with Tatsumi about how reckless he was for taking on the First Order as well as not trying to control his emotional instabilities.

Instead, it seemed as though she more MATCHED Tatsumi than she did herself.

"Did you really think that we didn't know that already?" Najenda asked sternly with a cocked eyebrow. "Were you just asleep when you and your commander came face-to-face with us?"

"N-No I..." The commander quickly cut him off.

"Did you not see what your commander has done over the years?" As her tone continued to raise, she began to slowly make her way towards the swordsman, lightly pushing Lubbock's comforting hand off her shoulder. "Are you really just expecting us to believe you even after all the hell you and the Empire caused for us?"

"I was aware of tha-"

"Did you REALLY expect us to believe you after all the torture, lies and the pain of innocent civilians, pain that you caused bubbled up to the surface?!" Shooting a glance towards Akame, Lubba felt his brow beginning to furrow and his nerves tensing up as soon as she gave a nod as well as an expression that just screamed unease.

"I-I-I'm really not pro-"

"Do you REALLY expect me to believe you after seeing that this, THIS is what your commander did to us?!" The commander thrust one arm towards her back, directing Wave's gaze to a blue-haired corpse that he immediately recognized as the same assassin who Esdeath prevented from harming both him and Kurome. It was a rather odd thought to go back to since the very first time the two met one another even with all the First Order business that was going on as well as his questioning of where his loyalties should lie, he knew that he still had a job to do and as far as his feelings for Night Raid were concerned, they weren't exactly the kind that you would call positive so when he first saw the towering muscular behemoth charge for him with that club-like weapon, he had still considered him a threat that needed to be taken down no matter the cost along with the rest of his kind.

And now looking back at it with all the reflection he had on what he did and just how awful the Empire really was, it didn't even matter that the man was affiliated with Night Raid nor was his attempt to kill him and Kurome. All he could feel for the loss of life was just an overwhelming sensation of remorse and shame for what had happened regardless of if he was directly involved or not and from what he could tell judging by how the silver-haired woman was giving him what was quite possibly the most intense of glares and was continuing to make his way towards the cliff-side, possibly so that she can make the attempt to jump up to where he was, it was clear that she shared the exact same thoughts and that no matter how truthful and sincere he is with the apology, it would do nothing to stop her.

Though that didn't stop the man one bit from trying.

"I had absolutely no involvement in that! I was still fighting Tatsumi at the time, I didn't know that was what she was going to do, I swear!"

"And yet that did NOT do anything to stop you from committing similar acts in the past." She growled. "Even after all Esdeath has done you still stayed with her and ALLOWED similar atrocities to occur with there being no attempts to stop it."

"What did you expect me to do?! Esdeath is way too powerful for me to hand-"

"You should've tried to help regardless!" Najenda interjected. "You should've recognized what you were doing beforehand and worked to stop it!"

"And end up nothing but a stain on the floor?! If I tried just ONE action of valor, I would've been gutted before I could even blink!"

"At the very least you'd be going out with digni-"

"I'd be dying for NOTHING!" This continued on for at least a minute or two more and from what Lubbock could tell, absolutely nothing was going to be solved if they were to keep going and for all they know, the First Order might have either killed or most likely captured Tatsumi and if the latter was the case, they may have already brought him back to their base and are currently subjecting him to the most awful, horrific torture imaginable and considering that Esdeath's now in the picture, just the thought of what her new abilities were doing to his best friend was more than enough to send a shiver up his spine and from what he could tell, Akame and even Leone were both thinking the exact same thing. Finally directing his attention back to the conversation at hand, Lubbock was just about to make his way down towards Najenda to stop the argument and knock some sense into her when Wave for lack of a better term just started pouring his heart out.

"Please, I'm begging you to help me! I need to get away, Kurome needs to get away, WE need to get away! Without your help the First Order is going to kill us all! They're going to tear this planet apart piece by piece to the point where both the Empire and the Revolutionary Army won't exist!" Taking notice of both Najenda's and Leone's shocked expressions, the swordsman used that to his advantage and dropped down from the cliff-side and began to make his way towards the group to which the nervous Mine who was standing on the opposite end listening patiently to what he had to say had Pumpkin carefully centered on him just in case anything went wrong and strangely enough, the man just took it in stride and instead continued his little speech. "Don't you see that now isn't the time for fighting between us? The focus should be on the First Order and those who ally themselves with it, not me." As soon as Wave was within a few feet of the commander, Lubbock and Akame approached the man, offering to take the two unconscious bodies off his hands to which he politely refused with a simple shake of his head. A few seconds later was when Najenda finally shook herself free of her surprise and spoke once more, her tone slightly less agitated but still distrusting.

"And why should we trust you? For all we know you could just be a plant and this war has already done so much to us. Please just give me one good reason why we should consider this idea." Giving off a signal, the two assassins carefully but quickly pulled the bodies out of his arms, slightly struggling through the experience due to the weight but thanks to their conditioning, it was a fairly minor issue. As soon as his arms were free, the swordsman quickly sheathed his sword, letting his nerves relax with a deep breath right as a flash of blue light enveloped him. Knowing from her experience with watching Bulat and Tatsumi transform, Najenda didn't even bother to cover her eye as the light dissipated just seconds later, revealing the black-haired youth they saw a few moments before, looking relatively clean with the exception of a few scuffs and an expression that seemed to look as though it had little hints of both depression as well as the steely look of a soldier.

"Because unlike them, I'm actually human." Wave said moments later. "While they traded in all their sanity for power and nothing else, I remembered where I came from." The commander watched as he lowered his head seconds later, noticing how an air of melancholy seemed to settle in the moment he held out his open palm, his tone soon becoming slightly more depressed. "I just wished I noticed that sooner." A wave of silence washed over them, leaving the entire gang with just enough time to think about what just happened. As time went on, the group began to relax a little and let their nerves loosen up, sheathing whatever weapons they had out at the time. Being the stubborn one, Mine held out her weapon for just a little bit longer than necessary only to have an assuring nod by Lubba along with a few seconds of thought successfully convincing her seconds later to do so albeit with a sigh and just then, the commander spoke once more.

"Why do you think it took so long?" She asked, her voice far softer.

"To be honest, I really have no idea." Wave said, letting out a sigh. "Maybe I was just too naive for my own good and allowed my brain to just keep me in this fantasy land, letting it feed me all these lies about how every action the Empire was taking was..." The commander watched as the swordsman took in another deep breath, his expression showing that of disgust and unlike the spies she dealt with in the army prior, she couldn't help but feel as though with how his eyes still showed that melancholy look and his exhale resembling that of someone who just seemed to have this large amount of self-loathing and regret, it was for all intensive purposes a genuine, natural reaction with the thought only remaining once he continued on. "I let myself believe that all the mutilations and village burnings were all necessary in the fight for peace." As he went on, his tone began to raise and as the commander noticed, it also shook a bit with anger and sadness. "I still can't believe it myself, the fact that all this time I spent taking part in the senseless killing of innocents, viewing torture sessions and listening as my comrades referred to them as nothing but trash... and yet I did absolutely nothing about it. I didn't try to leave, fight back or do much of ANYTHING to prevent it from happening. I just sat back and took it! For awhile, it was either that I was a villain or I was a bystander and while they tried to make us all believe it, not once were we ever the heroes."

"What made you realize that this was not the life for you?" Najenda asked, not making a single attempt to hide the emotion that came over her.

"It always seemed to be present in the back of my mind but not once did it ever come about. As for when it did, I'll give you three words: The First Order."

"Wait you actually met them?" Lubbock asked. The swordsman nodded.

"It may sound crazy to you but yes I did." Wave began, the memories of the initial meeting rushing to mind. "We met them twice actually. Once when we had to deal with a small squadron of Stormtroopers a-"

"Hold on, Stormtroopers? I take it they're the foot soldiers of the group?" Leone interrupted, inciting a small look from the commander and a nod from Wave.

"The prime minister wanted us to make an attempt to figure out what this group is so that we may form an alliance with them. To accompli-"

"Wait a second!" Wave turned back to see the pink-haired source of the voice carefully sliding her way down the rocks. "Even after all that the news that came out about the sheer amount of damage they caused, despite all that was revealed about how they were invading villages regardless of affiliation, they wanted an ALLIANCE?!" Wave nodded in agreement.

"Trust me I had that exact same reaction. Speaking of villages, we investigated the sites that were reported as having been visited by their troopers... or at least what was left of them and on one occasion during the night, the same night when we lost Esdeath, that was when we were attacked. Thankfully the group was quite small and we were able to catch them off-guard with ease but I'm not gonna lie, I think we were just lucky that it wasn't a larger herd and that they weren't familiar with Imperial Arms, otherwise we would've been done for."

"And the second time?" The commander asked with head cocked to the side.

"It's quite a long story to go through so I'll give you just the cliffnotes, basically this general by the name of Hux came to us with the prospect of joining up both their organization and the Empire so that they might be able to assist in this manhunt for two girls and one guy who I believe they were referring to Tatsumi and before any of you ask, no Esdeath was not present at the meeting. She was still M.I.A at the time and we didn't see her until way later. Not that it would've made much of a difference since as I've found, public opinion really isn't all that valued in the Empire, everything is left up to the Emperor and the prime minister."

"So in spite of the fact that they showed themselves to be untrustworthy and those who rightfully pointed this out in opposition of the merger, they still went through with it?" Impressed by how well Najenda pieced it together, Wave nodded.

"It was right then Kurome and I realized just how dangerous it was to work in the group as well as how they just don't have any shred of respect for life." Thinking about how his entire life was up to that point, the swordsman couldn't help but let out what some may consider an inappropriate chuckle. "Oh the unfortunate irony of it all. We both joined up with the Empire expecting to be cherished as heroes fighting for the greater good as well as the people and judging by history, it seems as though they were at one point, key-term being of course 'at one point'. We didn't even have to pull back the curtain to see what was really going on as it was already so thin that it was almost translucent. It didn't take long to see through all the lies, corruption and deception at play and needless to say, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that it even started out as peaceful and just since with all that the prime minister has done, it bears absolutely no resemblance and to think that through all this, they've played up the Revolutionary Army as the villains who want to disturb the peace and thrust the world into chaos when in reality, THEY were the ones causing all of that and far more." Immediately following this, the swordsman gently lowered his hand onto Najenda's shoulder.

"And that's why I left." He began, motioning back towards the cliff-side as well as the unconscious Kurome and Chelsea that were carried by Akame and Lubbock respectively. "When I rescued those two, I made a choice." Despite being taken aback, the commander was able to regain the majority of her composure for one question.

"And what was that?" Najenda asked.

"No longer was I going to kill for them or any other dictatorship. If I'm going to be involved in a war, I want NO association with the side that believes striking fear into the populace is what freedom actually is. From this point on, I'm never going back to the Empire or any group like it and let them herd me around as if I'm just some pig in a slaughterhouse."

"What about your comrades back ho-"

"As far as I'm concerned, they're DEAD to me." Wave said, cutting off Lubbock and causing Najenda's eyes to widen. "I'm not at all joking nor am I pained about having to say that. As far as I'm concerned, the only people who I really truly cared about in that group are Bols, Kurome and Run as they were the only ones with a decent bone in their body. As for Seryu, Stylish and the rest of the Empire, if they are honestly going to continue letting these dark forces twist their minds and serve them all up until their demise then so be it because I'm not going to let myself become the very thing that they made me swear to destroy which all leads me to now..." Her gaze still being dead-set on his face and with the shock still flowing, the commander didn't notice one bit when the swordsman set down his other hand on her prosthetic shoulder and gazed deep into her features.

"I know we've been enemies for the longest of times," He began. "I know the Empire has put you through so much hell, how they're a lying, malicious and corrupted monstrosity of an organization." Najenda watched as Wave with just his one pause to take a breath let a single tear trail down his face, his focus not being broken one bit thus allowing her to see just the sheer amount of pain and regret he felt. "I know they've taken pretty much everything you've ever valued in life and all I have to..." Right as a few more tears dropped, the swordsman was finding it far more difficult to keep his composure. "all I have to... all I have to..." Before Najenda knew it, in just a few seconds the swordsman had gone from trying to hold everything in and focus purely on giving her the news like a soldier would with his emotions being easily readable but not quite breaking out to wrapping his arms around her shoulders in an attempt to hold himself up as the waterworks just came gushing from his eyes.

"I'm so sorry for all the pain you had to suffer through!" He sobbed. "From losing your eye and arm to losing your friends, just knowing that I worked with the group responsible fills me with absolute regret and shame!" As the shock still surged through her system, the commander's eye cycled through the crowd to see them gazing directly at what was going on and while for the most part it was somewhat normal, she couldn't help but notice something starting to well up in both Akame's and Lubbock's eyes, causing them to glisten a slight bit. Normally a sight like that would've incited a small mental or outward sigh from Najenda as the nature of their histories made them the most likely for something like this to occur in spite of all their training.

But whether it was from her still reeling after Susanoo or the fact that these two were her closest friends for quite a long while now, the commander instead felt as her composure, earned from years and years of being on the battlefield, was starting to at long last crack with the feeling only becoming greater as Wave went on. "I don't give a damn if I was involved or not nor do I care if I can't fully understand it, just by me joining up with them and not breaking it off any sooner makes me feel guilty! Every day that went by where I let myself believe this lie has left me with nothing but pure contempt for myself!" As the man continued on, Najenda felt an odd tingling sensation in her eyes, something that a few could consider a small disturbance due to the situation at hand but for now she was just left trying to figure out what it was.

Only to then figure it out when she felt a thin drop of liquid trickle down her face and her body starting to shake and if Wave continued any longer, very soon all of those defenses would come crashing down which was starting to seem like a very likely possibility as the thoughts of the various horrors and hardships that the war forced her to endure soon started to press down on this very structure with one in particular being especially difficult as it had to do with a certain brown-haired boy, a boy who she once considered to be her best warrior, a boy that turned out to be one of the most promising members of all time as well as the heart and soul after Bulat died.

A boy who she remembered suggesting that they silence without any remorse and just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, the swordsman's final words just about did it. "I understand you've been through hell, that the Empire has just tore everything you love both on the inside and possibly on the outside into shreds." He began sniffling. "But they've also done the exact same to me. I'm not asking you as a soldier or anything along those lines but as a fellow human being to another. Please... help me and my friend, there's nothing for me to go back to and fight for on the Empire, I want no more part in all their horrific crimes and like you, I want to make them pay." Freezing for a few seconds or so, he took in a nice long breath. "But if you still can't get over this..." It was right at that moment that the commander could feel every bit of her defenses just one more wrecking ball hit away from shattering and that they could do so now at any given moment. "then so be it, I'll just leave with Kurome and get out of your ha-"

"I accept." Najenda said with a sniffle, her arms lightly pushing Wave away, allowing the two to see each others tear-stained faces with the latter in particular feeling a little confused and as for the rest of the group being that this was their first time in a long, LONG while in getting to see this side of their boss, they could feel their internal floodgates flying open, letting a huge wave of emotion overtake them.

"I-I beg your pardon, did I hear you correctly?" Wave asked with disbelief. With a soft smile, the boss simply nodded in agreement.

"I'm deeply sorry for how I treated you before it's just... seeing such decent men in a horrible line of duty who are actually able to recognize that who they're fighting for goes against their moral code especially when it comes to this war, is most unbelievably rare." At long last, the swordsman let himself crack a small smile.

"Don't worry, I know all about that. They're my exact sentiments for you at the moment." Considering how that sounded, Najenda felt her head instinctively looking up and sure enough while his expression was still very serious and his face was still glistening from the tears, Lubbock seemed to tense up a slight bit at the comment which she couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at as another thought popped into her head, something a bit more positive and playful.

"Ease up a bit Lubba, even if it was meant in THAT way, you still are the one who has my interest." Turning her attention back towards Wave, the boss let her smile widen just a bit more, showing that she took the compliment in stride.

"I'm very happy to hear that." She said before proceeding to raise her hands off of the man who was feeling both a mixture of relief and surprise. If Wave had to be honest judging by how tense the situation was prior, there was not a shred of doubt in his mind that the commander was going to either kill him or at the very least send him packing along with Kurome and as horrific and heartless as that may sound due to how he poured his heart to the entire group, he also kept in mind the whole idea that just by being with a group like the Empire who had been warring with the Revolutionary Army for years on end, he was again unfortunately guilty just by association alone.

But to see that didn't happen and that instead he received such kindness, such warmth from who he once considered to be his mortal enemies was something he most definitely appreciated and if anything, it already went a long way in making his soul feel at ease since now, he was going to be able to take revenge against the very beasts who forced him to do all of this. With his focus still being locked on this topic, the man didn't notice that Najenda had already moved from her spot and was beginning to move away from the scene until she called it out.

"Aren't you going to be joining us?" Standing up straight, Wave turned towards the group right as a topic about a certain someone came to mind.

"Hold on a moment, what about Tatsumi?" The swordsman asked.

"We'll send a search party out very soon but right now, our focus is just on getting home and tending to our wounds." Finding that to be quite the sound idea, the swordsman couldn't help but feel there was just one more thing on his mind about a certain mask wearing brute who despite doing a good job of hiding it, he was certain had a certain degree of distaste for the Empire in recent memory especially with the fact that his family now have to live knowing that Stormtroopers could come in and either snatch or murder them at any given time. Remembering seconds later that he was still out, the swordsman turned his head back towards where Bols used to be only to find strangely enough, nothing.

Of course this could've been due to the fact that they were already quite far ahead so for all he knew he could've still been there but upon taking a closer look, all he really saw was a tiny blip which upon closer inspection, he could barely make out the details of the gasoline tank he used for his flamethrower which seemed to have a tiny piece of cloth of some sort draped over it and not only that but he also couldn't help but notice the faint noise of rocks cracking and hitting the ground a few seconds later. Thinking it wasn't much of an issue despite feeling as though he was being watched, Wave just kept to his business and continued his way down the pathway, ready to fight for a cause that he actually did believe in.

A thought that was also shared by a muscular figure who was up on the cliff-side the swordsman was prior, having been the one who climbed up after he was certain the others were a reasonable distance away to where no trouble could be caused. As Wave and the others continued to disappear into the distance, the big guy couldn't help but set his hand on his neat head of blonde hair as he thought back to all the talks and laughs he shared with the man which he was certain he was going to miss for quite awhile.

"Throughout all of history, I had several people run from me due to my appearance and what I did with my what I guess is now going to be my former profession." He mentally began. "And no matter how many times my wife reassured me that everything was okay, no matter how many times she said that deep down I was still a good man... I'd be lying if I said I never held much belief in that. I love her to death but sometimes I swear she just says those things just to make me feel better, not because she actually believes in it because honestly, who would support a man like me who essentially made his living off of spilling innocent blood? With all this in mind, I was certain that karma would eventually come to me and I guess in some respects, it did... though not in the way I was expecting." After several minutes and once his friend was nowhere in sight, Bols turned his attention back towards his Imperial Arms and his mask, two things that he initially never left without which have now become to him what he guessed the capital now was to Wave.

It was nothing but a bitter reminder of the kind of person he used to be as well as the actions he committed. Even the mask which he once wore to hide his appearance both as a means of making sure no one was unsettled by him and so that he wouldn't be able to look himself in the mirror had shared this unfortunate relation and as he reached into his pants to pull out a rather thin cylinder with what looked to be a small button at the top, his thoughts decided to finish themselves up.

"Instead of killing me for all the trouble I caused, I was most surprised and extremely grateful to have someone like you and Kurome by my side. Especially you Wave, no matter how many times I said I wasn't a nice man, no matter how scared you were upon first laying eyes on me and finally no matter how many times I told you that I was not one who deserved redemption, you just ignored all that and showed me quite possibly the most kindness that I've ever seen, second only to my wife and child." At that point, the man froze upon glossing over them, the realization that he won't be able to cradle them in his arms for a long while once he took part in this hitting him like a tumbling tower of bricks, causing him to temporarily question if what he was doing was right.

While the answer was certainly rather obvious since with this he'd be at long last walking away from the all the pain and shame he felt wearing that mask but at the same time, he also had to be comfortable with the fact that by doing this, he was essentially putting all his faith into just the hope that they would be able to live long enough to see him come home after this was all over which upon giving it a bit more thought, seemed all the more impossible with the First Order being in control. However he right then remembered what his wife said to him a long time ago when they first had their daughter and he expressed concern over this exact issue.

"Don't worry yourself honey," Her voice played back. "you taught me everything I needed to know so that I could do just that and I'll make sure I return the favor by teaching it to our little angel as well and hey maybe by the time she grows up, there just might be no need to with you around." At first Bols hadn't really thought of it as anything more but a nice bit of reassurance that his family was going to be safe and just moved on. But now with the advent of the First Order and all that had happened so far, he couldn't help but feel that she was actually right in some respects especially when it came down to a certain former Imperial police force which he remembered dreaming about in the several days that followed with the situations being nothing short of horrific as they mainly involved him watching from the afterlife as they did... unspeakable things to them.

And what happened when the First Order came along? The entirety of Wild Hunt turned up completely mutilated, a sight that as barbaric and disgusting as it was, he simply just couldn't get enough of when he first saw it in one of the few cases where a death actually brought peace to his soul. Not only that but compared to Wild Hunt, the First Order was at the very least brutal but strangely organized and gentlemanly in how they conducted things or at least, it looked that way upon first glance and with Esdeath now a part of it all, a general who had at one point promised that no matter what she would make sure that they were as safe as they could be, it seemed to add just a bit more fuel to that playful jab his daughter made about him being such a "fraidy cat" and that she remembers her daddy for being big and strong.

And that was exactly what he was going to be at that moment and after making one last check to make sure that there were no living beings in the area so that way, the most he would disturb is probably a Danger Beast which when taking the existence of the First Order as well as his own strength and conditioning into consideration, the thought of a Danger Beasts posing a massive threat really wasn't all that likely with the only time he'd be worried is if one of those rare flying and giant types appeared and then again, from what he could gather they already preferred to hang around only a few select locations and were highly uncommon among these parts. After giving his final "goodbye" glance to his equipment, the man turned away from it all and began to walk away, all the while raising the cylinder up to his face and letting one last thought cross his mind.

"To my wife Tiffany, while I know you won't be able to hear any of this, I would still like to mention just how sorry I am to announce that I won't be returning anytime soon. I know I said to you before that I was going to try my damnedest to make it back at least in time for dinner but due to some... complications regarding my feelings about the First Order, I feel that there is simply nothing for me to go back to and that it is about time I finally left it all behind." As soon as the image of his wife's smiling face came to mind, Bols took in a deep breath and shut his eyes. "That is my job and life of murder since with all that you've done for me, the thought of walking away from someone as sweet and caring as you is something I never would even bother with. Eventually when all this is over, I'll make sure that when I make my return that every single bit of lost time there ever will be is made up for in the greatest of ways. Of course, I have not a single hint of when that time might be but until then, there is but one request I have for you." As soon as his thumb lightly grazed the button, the man soon exhaled and opened his eyes, at long last letting the single tear free as the mental image of his beautiful daughter just moments before he left, asking for him to promise that he'd take the day off two weeks from then so that he could be there for her birthday celebration.

Oh how he really wished that he didn't have to put her through all that. Upon letting out a few more tears, Bols took one last look at his device and vocalized the rest of his thought.

"Please do take care of our little Zara and keep her as safe as you can." With that final word, he pushed the rest of his weight of his thumb down into the button and in just a few seconds, he could feel his back heating up ever so slightly as his gear and by extension his past life went up quite literally in smoke, making him all the more thankful that he was already a good distance away from the fireball as otherwise, his demise would've been very certain.

Meaning that he at long last, at least until the point where he has to make his move against the Order, was free.


	25. Chapter 25

( _Finalizer_ )

Having been one who has spent years upon years of examining various "new" arrivals, it quickly became apparent to all who resided in the First Order that General Hux was quite possibly the hardest man to get to smile or at least show some degree of surprise whenever he entered the sterile but reasonably wide weapon test room which for the most part was usually quite packed with all manners of Stormtroopers who every time he'd enter the room would stop to give their salute before moving back into their daily routine of shooting down moving targets or triggering the next model of whatever new jetpack or gizmo they had cooked up which for the most part despite how many times they'd seen all of this before, it always seemed to incite at least a half-smile or a quick blink of the eye showing that they were at least still moderately impressed.

Unlike Hux who'd always keep the same look of contempt or boredom from the beginning of the inspection to the end.

For most, they might feel inclined to call this type of behavior rude or uncaring but as far as those who knew the man and exactly how much of his life was just wasted away in these sessions of viewing what was almost always just another blaster or design concept for a ship or piece of tech, they found that it was best not to get too wrapped up in it all since they knew he still appreciated the tech and the effort that went into it regardless and that when the time comes that he is actually surprised, they'll know it when they see it. It was also the main reason why they didn't let themselves get wrapped up in the little ridiculous plans constructed by the troopers who were looking for possible ways to surprise the general whether it be through their skills in training or antics so unbelievably reckless that you wonder how they even were allowed into the Order in the first place, especially since despite all the times they were scolded and/or warned by their superiors, they just turned their heads in ignorance and just kept going in the hopes that special occasion where their general's eyes would light up would eventually come forth, despite how impossible it seemed.

And against all odds and after years of waiting, the Force finally seemed to work in their favor the moment they saw Hux, Phasma as well as a new recruit with an... unknown creature of some sort walking through the doors, during which they could see what looked to be a woman with bright blue hair carrying an unconscious boy through the small crack behind them. Their attention would not be locked on this for long however once the chat began with the single staffer present, that person being the rather old, somewhat senile but still very competent and knowledgeable head designer of the First Order's weapons division Veval Newell who had been for the past few days examining the small purple crystal that was present on the desk behind all the blast-shielding, that item having been procured from FN-2199's unconscious body once he was brought back to base and it was here where despite not being able to hear anything, they could tell in the minutes that followed a red crystal being set down right beside the gem which seemed to be slightly pulsing with light and energy that this most certainly had the general's attention the moment they saw his eyes starting to widen.

"You're kidding me." Hux let out with disbelief. "They're actually the same exact mineral?"

"General, while I may not be as in tune with all this Force jargon as you are, I know for a fact with the descriptions superiors have given me from that these are both the exact same type of crystal." The designer replied, stroking the small patch of gray stubble on his chin, stopping only every so often to take a glance at the colored items, taking mental notes of any difference there was in how the energy pulsed through them. "Or at least... I would say that in terms of the type since clearly the color and energy levels are completely different." The general's brow cocked for a moment with confusion before slowly lowering back down upon giving it a few seconds of thought.

From what he could gather from Snoke's words, Vitiate was one who lived and followed in the footsteps of an age where sorcery and artifacts were the more preferred and often commonly used method to enhance a Force-wielder's strength which was such a stark difference in comparison to the age of those who followed the Rule of Two who had borrowed the Jedi idea that power should be naturally gained through training and practice which even rang true for those who were natural prodigies like Vader so of course the Sith Emperor would've risked his life and used an unstable crystal if it meant his weapons could become far more powerful and that a sensible mind like the one who constructed the weapon the purple mineral belonged to would use something far more stable just to be safe.

Still didn't quite answer the question he had about how it was even possible for another planet to be able to produce the same type of mineral as Ilum let alone where it was initially discovered or why there seemed to be this sort of natural instability with it which only served as proof that while trying to balance the molding of Seryu into a reasonable replacement, when he could discuss the news from Zeroes and Phasma about Nines's... "moment" as well as millions of other issues that needed his attention, he really needed to start furthering his studies in the Force.

But like all things in life, that had to wait and hopefully not for as long of a time as Veval who for just that brief minute seemed to be so still and so patient that you'd almost mistake him for a statue or at least swear that his muscles were getting sore until eventually, it seemed as though they did as he was the one to break the silence.

"I take it you're surprised by the news?" His gaze stilled locked on the two items, the general's head swayed with indecision as his gloved mitt rose to clasp his chin.

"More or less," He replied. "I was told a bit about these by the Supreme Leader though I freely admit that I didn't exactly pay attention to every detail." The older specialist's mouth curved into a smirk.

"Really now? Well this is a first, the great General Hux, one who along with his father are known all throughout as being those types of staffers that stay up for multiple days and nights just to make sure that the organization is running at peak efficiency actually is admitting to not paying attention to a detail." Veval stopped for a few seconds to let out a light chuckle. "I guess the First Order should toss you out now and spare us the trouble." The general's expression didn't move a single inch and judging by his peripheral vision, Phasma had the exact same mentality as instead of the previous occasions where she'd let out a comment about how the old man should watch his mouth, she seemed to just let out a small mental sigh or at least that's what her movements hinted towards and if Hux had to be honest, he couldn't help but share the sentiment what with this being possibly the thousandth or so time that he had to hear Veval take a crack at the few moments of humanity he showed which despite being as lighthearted as they were, they still irritated both him and the captain greatly.

And now, he could effectively add a certain girl to the list once she stepped forward seconds later, pushing Hux to the side in a manner so polite that had him mentally chuckling especially at how she seemed to mouth an apology to him as the action went on, an act that certainly wasn't unwelcome but rather it was just odd seeing as though in these recent years, he hadn't been receiving quite the amount of respect or formalities that he used to, especially when it came to Kylo Ren.

"I'll have you know that the general has put in far more work than you ever had and will put in your entire life." She began harshly. "It's the reason why he's our commander so I think you should show him a little more respect." Taking a few moments to glance over both the girl and the dog-like creature by her ankles which let out a small bark of agreement, the old man's smirk remained especially when he brought up the painfully obvious.

"Well, I never exactly thought you'd actually be that type of man Hux." He said with a laugh. "I mean I knew you'd keep your bloodline going at one point but not once did I expect it to be this soon." Soon after noticing the faint hint of pink that poked through the general's face, looking incredibly out of place when coupled with his rather stone cold countenance, Veval's smirk formed into a grin. "But then again, she looks to be closer to your age which in that case, I guess that means Ren wasn't the only one who had family stranded on he-"

"She's not at all related to the general." Phasma cut in. "All Imperial records clearly state that Brendol Hux only had one child, not two."

"That and my father had always put the will of the Emperor first above all other things so him hiding a possible sibling from both me and the Empire would make no sense." Hux quickly added, his eyes calmly and briefly darting towards Seryu with the specialist still watching with that same lighthearted grin.

"Regardless, you've got to admit that there are at least some similarities." The general rolled his eyes.

"If by similarities you're referring to the most basic and unintentional parallels between our hair-color, ages and passion then yes I guess we are similar." Hux's tone then shifted into something a bit more sarcastic. "And by that logic, I guess we might as well say that a Bantha and a Dewback come from the same animal bloodline because they walk on four legs or that Jakku is a cousin of Tatooine because of them being desert planets." The specialist shrugged.

"It's just a thought, I mean no harm by it."

"Coming from a man who has casually joked about me being such an ineffectual commander many times before, I'm honestly just waiting for the point when you do actually mean something by it." Veval gave off a playful frown.

"Why? So that your troopers can brutalize a withered old man like me?"

"It would at least provide me with something more interesting to watch. That and we'd be sparing the Order of weakness."

"Need I remind you that this 'weakness' was the one who equipped your soldiers with those things outside?" The general looked to where the old man's thumb was pointing and sure enough, he couldn't help but let out a sigh at the sight of the blue-marked TIE Fighter outside which was held up rather neatly alongside similarly marked versions of other famous models like the TIE Advanced, TIE Bomber and another tarp-covered ship that looked flatter than the others which he knew was going to be the one they called the TIE Specter and indeed he had to give the man credit when it was due. If it weren't for his ingenuity or leadership skills, the Order would've definitely not been able to advance as far as it did and especially not at the rapid pace it managed.

"You make a good point," Hux said, nodding with acknowledgement. "but now let's move back to the crystals and most importantly..."

"Why was the Empire in possession of minerals that are clearly of your galaxy and not ours?" Seryu cut in, inciting a small glare behind the mask from Phasma, a glare that Hux didn't exactly share as much as he just looked on with reasonable surprise as did Veval. "I mean he did explain to us that these can also grow on other worlds but that doesn't explain why the prime minister would even have one, let alone two." Newell set a bony, wrinkled finger on his chin and began to ponder.

"To be honest young one," He began seconds later. "I have not a single idea why this is. Either this planet was a breeding ground at one point or some fool ended up losing a whole supply that your ruler just took advantage of but those are just guesses on my part. And to add onto that, they're not my main interest, especially now that you've mentioned to me yet another group that called itself the Empire." The general's brow raised with confusion but only for a brief second as the answer came rushing through his subconscious with ease and judging by the change in expression, the specialist seemed to know.

"General? Was there something you forgot to tell me?" Hux nodded.

"My apologies for not explaining it sooner, I was a bit too caught up in trying to negotiate an 'alliance' with this empire and from what I can tell, Vitani only seemed to give the main troopers she took with her the intel, not the whole cruiser."

"I expected about as much," Veval said. "the Galactic Empire never really was that good with informing everyone about what was going on and I guess some things never change." The general did nothing but nod, paying no mind to the sudden growing coldness in his soul. "But with these pressing matters of order and peace in the galaxy, I can't really blame anyone but now that I have your attention, can you please explain what exactly this organization is?" Just as Hux's jaw lowered, a chilling eerie tone cut him off.

"Only after I finish up with my duties here will he be able to." The small gathering turned with only one looking on with surprise at the cloaked figure standing in the doorway, his metal mask showing hints of the faint red lights which were reflecting off of it about as well as they were with Phasma's chromium plating and when combined with his voice and the growing coldness that overwhelmed the senses, it took only a few seconds of thought for Seryu and Koro to realize just who exactly it was they were looking at with the utterance of his name seconds later only serving as further albeit unneeded confirmation.

"I didn't exactly expect you to be paying a visit so soon Ren." Hux said. "But then again, that might as well be the summary of all our interactions, just what exactly are you doing here?" His gaze moving straight past the three and towards the two crystals with absolutely no mind being paid to the group of troopers outside who were now moving back into their usual training routines, the Dark Lord began to slowly traverse the length of the small room towards the desk, his hands seeming to casually loosen the small gold ring from one of his fingers.

"Just checking out our other new find," Kylo replied, his tone showing very little if any emotion. "I can only imagine how long Vitani has waited to reunite with that boy so I thought it best to not keep her back any longer." Once the ring was slipped off completely, Ren without as much as a second thought casually flicked the small object towards Hux as though it were but a simple credit. "That and I knew you'd throw a fit if I didn't return this."

"Indeed I probably would have," Hux said sarcastically and with a roll of his eyes. "if you feel so inclined to believe that." Paying no mind to his cohort, the captain or anyone else for that matter, Kylo slowly lowered his gaze towards the two minerals with the silence that followed quickly becoming quite unnerving, especially for Seryu whose internal thoughts seemed to be completely at odds as she wasn't sure whether to be terrified or impressed by the man she saw before her and to make matters even worse, it seemed as though he was already completely aware of it if the split-second glance towards her was of any indication.

"Interesting," Kylo uttered after a long bout of silence. "so that fat fool was actually in possession of one of these?"

"At least that's what the general tells me." Veval said, his tone quickly becoming deathly serious, a shift that the girl couldn't help but feel unnerved by. "He also told me that he found it in a gigantic suit of armor that he believes was the weapon of the Sith Emperor."

"Vitiate?" Kylo's voice and head perked up with interest, interest that Veval didn't quite share judging by the motions he made seconds later.

"Whatever you call him, I could personally care less. The point is that he found it, he believed that it belonged to this Sith Lord and now we have it he-what in blazes are you doing?!" The moment he heard the Sith Emperor's name was the moment Kylo had already begun to lower his hand towards the crystal, not even bothering to listen to whatever drivel the old man would throw out and by the time he noticed, the red object was already being held up just inches away from his watchful eye, carefully nestled in-between his gloved index finger and thumb.

"But how could this have belonged to Vitiate?" He asked. "He was one of the most powerful Sith in history both in power and mind, why would he even with his lust for strength decide to juggle his life over this thing with how unstable it looks and for what reason would he need a gigantic suit of armor?"

"Funnily enough Ren, I asked myself that exact question when I found the thing." Hux replied, his tone soon shifting into that of concern and maybe, just maybe a slight hint of fright. "But regardless, now is not the time to be a curious little child, please set that thing down before you kill someone!"

"As much as I would like to support you commander, I have to say I agree with the general." Phasma chimed. "You mentioned it yourself, it lacks in any sort of stability."

"And yet you believe that Vitiate might've used it and in that case, I'd rather have my time to look." Hux's brow furrowed.

"And risk our lives?"

"I'll be cautious."

"Kylo Ren, you and the word cautious have been and always will never be something I pair together."

"Funny you say that as though you're the one in charge." The general sighed with annoyance.

"I am in charge, I'm the one who holds the leash to your bothersome carcass."

"And one that just so happens to be a master of the Dark Side." Kylo quipped. "Now please, do remain silent." Despite his mind already scrambling through over a million different responses with some being far less professional than others, Hux reluctantly agreed to the warrior's orders and kept his lips sealed tight as did Phasma and Seryu, their eyes now being locked on the unstable crystal as their minds started to brim with every possible accident that could occur if their commander wasn't careful enough as well as all the things they wanted to say but couldn't in fear of what exactly the man might do.

Fear that unfortunately despite being shared by Veval who was someone that had lived through the days of Vader and thus has bared witness to at least more than one altercation between a Dark Lord and a staffer, wasn't being suppressed. Whether it was through the man's sensitivity over discoveries or concern for his own safety, the specialist without any warning found himself vocalizing just about every concern he had much to the trio's and by extension Kylo's chagrin.

"I might've been supportive of the decisions you made in the past and silent about those I didn't quite agree with but I just have to say that this is ridiculous commander!" Veval called, his voice only getting slightly louder once he noticed the Dark Lord's attention still being locked on the mineral, the metal on his mask shimmering in the crimson glow. "I know you and the Supreme Leader have put all your trust into the Force but that doesn't give you the right to come barging in and start toying around with materials that could lead to outcomes way out of your control!" Remaining silent and still for a few seconds, Kylo turned his back to the desk and began to move away, his actions causing an eerie sensation to start manifesting in the pit of the general's stomach, a sensation that lead to him ordering Phasma and Seryu to start moving away from the desk themselves, leaving Veval to more of what their commander might've considered worthless rambling. "Ren this is incredibly serious, if you were to drop that thing, if you were to make the most minor of mistakes or impacts, who knows what will happen!" With about as much care as one would have for a dead Tauntaun, Kylo casually nudged his head forward, leaving the specialist to watch as the purple mineral shook and squirmed for a split-second before moving through the air and into the warrior's free hand, causing his frustration to grow even more. "Commander Ren, for once can you let go of that arrogance and just listen to me?!"

"How odd," Kylo thought, carefully analyzing the two items. "I thought the stability would be the only difference but just the feeling, the energy, it just seems so different..." As his mind tried its hardest to cycle through any and all possible answers to this small plight, his annoyance with Veval only grew more and more very much like his raising voice.

"Ignore me all you want but what I'm saying is the truth! Please set the red one down, be logical about this!" Feeling as his anger began to boil as well as his curiosity, Ren's mind soon set its sights on an answer that wouldn't just provide confirmation for at least one of his possible hypotheses but it would hopefully whether it be through either temporary or permanent means, silence the old man whose yells were quickly becoming more than just a minor irritation and more a throbbing migraine. "Commander!" Soon after that one word was uttered, the Dark Lord with as much subtlety as he could manage shut his eyes and took in a deep breath, feeling the Force beginning to course through his body and soon after the air all around him. In just under two seconds, Hux could feel the familiar sensation of unease settling in the moment he spotted the shutters rushing down, stopping with a loud "THUD!" right as the room went dark with the only light sources being the crystals and the two faint red lights that lined the ceiling with the feeling it gave off being less a room for testing or discussion but rather a prison cell.

More specifically, a cell for someone who was on death row.

Despite his best attempts to hide it and press forward, both the trio and Kylo could sense as well as see the fear that was beginning to bubble through the cracks of Veval's flesh in the form of the viscous beads of liquid that came trickling down his forehead or in the latter's case, the steadily increasing pace of his heartbeat.

"What's happening now?" Seryu asked quietly. Without taking his sights off the specialist for even a second, the general gave his answer in a tone that was as direct as it was emotionless.

"Just a showcase of what happens when you disagree with our commander." Feeling chills that bit all the way down to the bone, Seryu looked down to see that even her best friend/weapon Koro was feeling the exact same way, his position now being completely different as instead of standing by her ankle, his stubby little body was seeming to cower and whimper behind her leg with his paws tightening their grip on her flesh with every passing moment. After a few more seconds of staring, the girl looked back towards the specialist who had just finished taking in a long deep breath.

"C-Commander?" He asked, voice quivering with fright. "Are you al-a-a-alr-"

"Thank you for all your years of service." Kylo cut in, his tone cold and lacking in any sort of care. "I hope your life as well as your final test have been eventful thus far." It wasn't even a full second when Veval realized what it was that his commander had planned for him.

And as it turned out, the realization came just a bit too late and in just a flash, the man went from having his fearful visage met by Kylo's cold presence to everything going a complete pitch black with the last sound that he heard before losing consciousness being that of an explosive discharge as well as the shocked gasps and howls from those present in the room with the only ones he didn't hear being obviously General Hux and Phasma.

Speaking of whom, even with all that they had experienced before all this, the two officials either through the shock of the new recruit or just how sudden the chain of events were, found themselves being filled with the once long thought to be forgotten sensation of surprise and in Hux's case, a hint of anger when the smoke from the red Kyber crystal turned makeshift explosive cleared, revealing Veval's now burning corpse with the state of the injuries being very comparable to how they found Syura judging by how part of his skull poked through the festering, blistered flesh and the arms and legs which were now completely separated from the body and strewn haphazardly around the room, the tattered clothes and finally the desk which just mere seconds after it was caught by the Dark Lord was thrown back, the impact of which both caused it to shatter and the brain to splatter along the walls and shutters with the three watching as pieces of both bone and flesh slowly slithered down, leaving a horrific trail of red as it did so.

"So it does exist." Kylo said quietly, his unfeeling gaze not even bothering to lay eyes on what was left for one last time as he began to make his way towards where he came, not even bothering to acknowledge the trio who he just casually shoved his way past while Hux let out his expected call of confusion.

"It does exist? What do you..." As quickly as the doors whirred open, they were soon clicking and rattling shut with the very last thing they heard from the Dark Lord being an extremely basic utterance that not even Hux with his knowledge of the Force could figure out.

"Think back to your talks with Snoke and you'll understand."

 _Meanwhile..._

On the very few occasions that a First Order Stormtrooper had free time, it was usually spent reading approved holobooks, viewing approved videos or what has now become a favorite in these difficult times, firing up a combat scenario of varying difficulty in order to keep skills as sharp as they could be. When asked which series used it the most, many would instantly point to the FN line-up and more specifically, the trio of FN-2199, FN-2187 and FN-2000 who all found that it was the perfect way to relax their minds after an especially difficult mission or a good hearty re-energizing meal.

With the latter especially recalling the amount of times he ended up using it following Eight-Seven's desertion, it should've come as no surprise to anyone that the first thing Zeroes did aside from reporting to Captain Phasma and General Hux about what exactly happened between Nines and Mez was rush to the simulation room and switch on a random battle on whatever difficulty was available at the time, hoping that maybe the rush of adrenaline he'd gain from shooting down some New Republic soldiers would be more than enough to relax his nerves and in the first minute or so, it seemed to be working.

However as time went on and as the trooper started to advance more and more towards his main target which was a bunker and a heavy repeating blaster, every shot that he made on the enemy, virtual or not, seemed to cause him more and more pain from within his soul with his focus seeming to settle on how their faces contorted and deformed in response to the hits until eventually, he had forgotten about the main objective entirely and instead let his mind replace every face with that of the innocents they killed recently and with every time he tried to shake it, the effect seemed to not only grow but his stomach also churned and bubbled with disgust. Soon once he was inches away from completing his objective, just a couple maneuvers away from destroying the bunker, the sickness soon spread to his head which was now throbbing with pain and the faces he saw his targets morph into soon weren't just copying the looks of his recent kills but just about every other victim in the First Order's past, including those that Zeroes hadn't even been the cause of such as Lor San Tekka, countless Resistance soldiers, who he assumed was infamous smuggler turned rebel fighter Han Solo and finally the entire Gungan race with each image possessing what he guessed was a freeze frame of their final moments before they met their end with every time he landed a direct hit inciting a bloodcurdling, drum-piercing screech of pain that only seemed to get louder and louder to the point where the soldier was surprised that he wasn't even deaf or at least bleeding from the ears. Still trying his best to ignore it all, FN-2000 could see just from behind the last portion of cover the currently unmanned repeating blaster, the same blaster which had torn through his virtual squadron just a few minutes before. Trying his best to work through it all, Zeroes began to feel as fearful as he was frustrated as his shaky hands continued to fumble with trying to release the thermal detonator from his belt, an action that he remembered was pulled off effortlessly by FN-2187 back during the exact same exercise. After about a minute or two of hassle, the soldier had finally gotten a tight grip around the cylinder and was now raising his head slightly over the cracked the wall with arm drawn back and ready to toss, only to then feel his very being freeze at the sight and sound of a familiar face and voice, one that caused him to be overtaken with emotion.

"Zeroes..." Paying no mind to the incessant beeps and buzzes of his helmet's warnings of incoming fire, Zeroes instead felt his heart and mind race as Eight-Seven's almost ethereal sounding voice kept playing itself back and just like the screams from before, it only got louder and louder with every passing second even after he was sent flying back by the repeater, causing the illusion to fizzle and whir until eventually, he was back in the sterile combat room he had become all too familiar with. As he slowly picked himself up off the ground, the trooper felt his condition worsening by the second with the churning in his stomach now startling his gag reflex as his migraine evolved to the point where it was just unbearable with the throbbing now feeling as though as a fist buried deep beneath the skin was just repeatedly punching his brain or that a whirlwind and/or hurricane was threatening to rip his head in two. Working as quickly as he could, Zeroes hooked his fingers underneath his helmet as quickly as he tore it off of his head and without any hesitation sped away from the room and down the halls, desperately trying to keep it together as he searched for his sleeping quarters, paying no mind to any nearby soldiers who might've been left staring at his sickly pale complexion. Finally after what felt like an eternity, FN-2000 found his room and with all his might after the door slid open, he tossed his dome and blaster onto his bed and locked the door all in the span of a few seconds it took for him to reach his washroom where upon reaching the sink, he just couldn't hold it in and for the second time today after bracing himself, he unloaded the last of the meals he had in large discolored clumps.

"Zeroes..." There the voice was again, playing back just moments after he had finished wiping his mouth clean of the mess, showing that regardless of whether or not it was the Force or his conscience, it became clear that it had quite the penchant for persistence as it just would not shut up for even a second no matter how much he yearned for it to. After a few more minutes of staring into the mirror and taking in his pale almost ragged appearance, Zeroes was just about to turn on the sink when he felt one thought enter his mind.

"Was this the reason Eight-Seven left?" Being a thought that had popped up not too long ago, it wasn't the least bit surprising to the trooper though that didn't exactly mean he enjoyed it what with how he already agreed to give his life for the Order but unlike the last time where it lingered for the length of time it took for him to regroup with his fellow officers, the fact that he was alone combined with what he just went through seemed to have allowed this particular question more time to really grow and develop until eventually, it started coupling itself with various flashbacks to some of his most memorable moments with Eight-Seven and the rest of his firing squad.

At first it started out harmless enough with the question repeating as expected during the occasions he saw Eight-Seven with either a look of hesitation or regret throughout his life but as time went on, that was when things started to get far more "interesting" to say the least as it soon started seeping into even the happiest or even thoughts that didn't involve his squadron which included but was not limited to when him and the squad were chatting in the mess hall, their sparring sessions with the FO and FL series, his struggles with the Resistance, his reaction when Nines first came into sickbay after Takodana and possibly what was bound to become a permanent staple or scar on his psyche, the sight of that young boy pleading for mercy before he was shot dead and before he knew it, his simple answers of "These are all risks we must take to bring peace to the galaxy." or "Eight-Seven left because he was foolish and possessed too much empathy." were starting to sound less and less concrete and possibly were delving into the realm of being considered lies.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" Zeroes mentally asked, still gazing into the mirror. "I'm an Officer, an extension of the Supreme Leader's will, I followed every piece of advice given to the letter and so far it has all succeeded in liberating the galaxy from that loathsome Resistance." It was at that moment that the trooper looked down into the palm of his hand, remembering all the brothers he lost in all the battles prior to this moment, all of the brothers that they lost during their time as the Galactic Empire and finally all that Hux had told them in regards to the Resistance and their desire for chaos and conquest. It didn't even take a minute for when Zeroes finally looked up at his reflection for his rage to flare up, signified by the tightening of fists and the bulging of veins.

"Why..." After a few more breaths both through his mouth and nose, FN-2000 felt as both his hands were now balled up, the tension being so rough and so tight that he could swear his nails were digging into his palms through the gloves.

"Why is it that I can't..." Feeling his anger take full control, the soldier let out a frustrated growl and threw his fist back.

"Why am I still possessing these doubts?!" He roared right as his knuckles made impact with the glass, causing it to shatter a few seconds later. After a few more pants, Zeroes could've sworn that he was done when suddenly, he felt his hatred take control once again and before he knew it, he just started swinging like a maniac, not caring about the possibility of getting cut or anything along those lines.

"Why is it that I can't shake this from my mind?! Why can't I follow Phasma's advice?! Why is Eight-Seven still haunting me?! Why..." While his punches did start to slow down after about a minute, that did nothing to stop the increase in power.

"can't I..." Taking in a deep, deep breath, FN-2000 drew his fist back for what he hoped was going to be the last time and without any further hesitation, he released all the rage he had built up.

"be the perfect soldier every fucking person wants me to be?!" With that final blow, FN-2000 found himself feeling all the more relieved that he locked the door when he did and turned on the soundproofing since not only was he certain that the captain would've had his head for using language that wasn't remotely professional or tolerated but she would've most definitely not taken kindly to the fact that the mirror in his room had gone from being a perfect stainless reflective pane to being nothing but a bunch of shards that had fallen in piles either to the floor or inside the sink.

And finally, she especially would've chewed him out for his next few thoughts that came after taking a moment to breathe and calm his nerves before proceeding to move back towards his helmet and weapon which upon taking one glance at it, he felt as his emotions shifted which he had fully expected considering that with every time he set his sights on the armor, he took a significant amount of pride in knowing that the armor he wore was a representation of all the purity in the galaxy, that when he put on that bucket, he wasn't just wearing a stainless white uniform but it was also said to be a symbol of all the peace and order he would bring to all worlds once they ended the Resistance's tyranny.

His thoughts now? Instead of having the sensation of honor and pride grace his expression, he instead felt a significant amount of reluctance and disgust and with every passing thought, all FN-2000 could find himself thinking about was just how nice it would feel to get out.

How pleasant it would feel to possibly to get away from the Order and assist in watching it burn.

* * *

 _Author's Addendum:  
_

 **Yep, as you can see, I'm borrowing a little concept from another series and re-purposing it for use in this story and yes there is an explanation for this... but as Maz said in response to the question about how she found Luke's lightsaber.  
**

 **It's best saved for another time.**

 **Oh and as far as the requests are concerned, I do like them all but so far, I think I'm going to hold off on doing them.**


	26. Chapter 26

( _Night Raid HQ_ )

It had seemed rather impossible back in the past that the fight against the Empire could lead into another conflict with a dictatorship from far beyond the stars. Her life being one that was filled with one impossibility after another, however, Najenda unfortunately had to come to accept this painful truth for the entire length of time she spent walking back to headquarters, the distance of which was so incredibly far that had she known about what this would entail beforehand, the call made to the Revolutionary Army without a doubt would've included an extra call for transportation. But alas, the time and situation at hand were not at all working in her favor so she had no choice but to settle for her vision being filled with nothing but dirt with the occasional look being given to her comrades just to break up the monotony of it all until eventually they moved into the forests where all she could see then was just trees. Nothing but trees off to her left, trees off to her right, trees behind her, had she not been as good of a navigator as she was, she might've said they were going in circles.

But then again, that would also rely on her current feelings at the time not being in the bind that they were in at that time. So regardless of what the circumstance could've been, Najenda knew that she would be keeping silent through most of it, not bothering to join in on any of the little bits of banter and camaraderie which was quite normal to most so they didn't exactly question it. In fact, the only time anyone seemed to really flash her as much as a look was when they finally got back to base where soon after setting the injured down and having just barely enough time to lick their less tangible wounds, the order was given to both Lubbock and Mine to move out into the Capital and do a little investigating to see if Wave's claims were as true as he was making them out to be.

As was to be expected, the two did raise at least an eyebrow at this, asking why she would bother sending two tired souls out into enemy territory when there were far more important matters to attend to and discuss such as the situation involving Tatsumi. Had the time maybe been slightly lenient with her then a proper explanation could've been given but for now, what the two had to settle with was an all too familiar death glare, warning them that denying her chain of command or questioning her methods like the boy had done before was not something she was wanting to deal with at the moment and luckily enough for her, while Mine took slightly longer than normal to get moving, at the very least Lubbock and her were out the door at a relatively decent pace, thus allowing her to make her way down the hall to her office the moment the doors shut.

The walk down took a few minutes longer than she would've liked or at least it felt that way to her since she was moving at her usual pace if maybe a little faster which was what best described her internals really as they all seemed to be moving at a faster pace than normal which was usually reserved for when immediate threats were nearby.

Well technically there was a threat and if the information given happens to be true then they are most certainly nearby.

Finally inside the rather relaxing confines of her office after slamming the door shut and locking it tightly, Najenda found herself letting out a sigh of relief and her back resting against the wood surface, her muscles allowing her to slowly slide down until she was in a sitting position all the while she was huffing and puffing from over-exertion. Almost by instinct, the commander then reached into one of her pockets, jostled it around for a bit before proceeding to raise a small pack of cigarettes to her face with her prosthetic being used rather unceremoniously to grab the lighter from across the room.

"As my protector, my Imperial Arms, I always expected that your death would be as a means of sacrifice." Najenda thought as she carefully closed her lips around the small white stick, lighting the tip with a bright orange ember, an ember that would probably have more meaning to her now than it ever did in the past considering who it was that she was having this smoke for.

"And you... you'd always tell me that was the way you hoped for, stating that you were happy to be of service but that you were nothing more than that." Slowly, the commander looked up into the window at the skies, now tinted with the orange of sunset. It already had been that long since his passing? It was quite the surprise to her since if anything, it still felt like both his introduction and death came just mere seconds ago and yet here the day was now, discarding that idea just through the light that shone on her face.

A face that was looking far more forlorn than what was expected out of her.

"You always told us that your life was meaningless to worry about since regardless of whether or not you'd survive, you said your purpose would always be served." As time went on in between puffs, Najenda could feel her hands beginning to... tremble? Despite being well regarded as one of the hardest commanders of the Revolutionary Army, despite her being essentially the backbone that absolutely everyone could rely on as being one of the few who could keep the organization from completely collapsing, despite spending several years of her life experiencing death and destruction on a frighteningly regular basis, the commander found herself for the first time since her catching initial glimpses of Esdeath's psychopathic tendencies trembling over a loss and not just any loss but an Imperial Arms.

Then as if her human side just realized what it was she was thinking about, her brain immediately skimmed over this next thought.

"And I guess you might've been right... but that doesn't mean it hurts any less." Throughout the entire experience, the commander soon began to regret having sent Lubbock out once she felt an unfamiliar sensation in her eye, her vision clouding up in just under a few seconds before she felt something trickle down her cheek.

"If only you could've been able to see Susanoo just how much you meant to us both as a weapon... as well as a friend." After finishing up her first cigarette, Najenda was just about to rush down to grab another one when she suddenly froze, the memories of her fallen comrade flying through her mind as she expected, causing her to put the pack down and just sit there.

"Despite being someone who could be considered as being without a soul, you were ironically one of the most human companions that I've ever had the pleasure of working with. A truly brave, honest soul who went above and beyond in the effort to achieve peace." Wiping the mist from her eye, the commander looked down into her open prosthetic palm, remembering her first time approaching Susanoo during the attack on their original base, how initially before she realized the man already trusted her she set this one caring hand down on his own in an unnecessary effort to try and build compassion when there was no point to do so whatsoever. It was as the warrior said in his own lovably monotone words.

"The polite gesture is welcome but highly unnecessary since I hold no animosity towards you. I know who you are." Afterward, she remembered it ending with just a lighthearted chuckle, one of the few occasions where that could be managed freely and with the emergence of the First Order and its possible rumored alliance or takeover of the Empire, it was quickly becoming a rarity, almost like minerals of gold or silver and without Susanoo around to help her deal with the threat, without the assistance of his trump card or his meals to boost efficiency as well as morale, she was certain it was possibly on the path of becoming an impossibility.

"Even when faced with such an unknown dangerous adversary like this First Order, whatever fear you may have had, you never showed it. You just kept your chin up, stood up straight and said that you would always be on duty." It was at this point that Najenda really started to regret the lack of Lubbock. Out of all of Night Raid's members, compared to all the Revolutionary Army had to offer, absolutely no one was as helpful or as close to her as he was.

And unfortunately for the time being, he was going to be way too far off and with the state everyone was in, they were absolutely in no position to go out and look. Speaking of which, the commander soon found herself really coming to terms with just how awful this turn of events turned out to be, especially at this time. Compared to most, Susanoo was by far one of the luckiest members to ever exist as thanks to the nature of living Imperial Arms, he had the special ability of being able to regenerate whatever damages he may endure throughout any fight. Granted the downside to this was that if his core was struck hard enough he would meet his end but even then the task for lack of a better term was damn near impossible in of itself with his skills and sheer strength being more than enough to face any sort of challenge and when combined with these abilities, it was safe to consider him as being worth a whole platoon of soldiers thus meaning that had he still been around, the upcoming inevitable fight with the Order wouldn't have her as stressed as it did now.

And of course as seemed to be the norm for the time being, events didn't quite pan out the way she was hoping as although they were able to prevent the demises of at least four members excluding herself and Tatsumi as his status is currently up in the air, Susanoo was quite possibly one of the most useful out of any of them, especially for a conflict like this which up until that point had been able to be delayed to perform all tasks necessary. Now, it seemed as though times were becoming more and more desperate with the number of measures that could be taken to make sure they're prepared dwindling far more than anticipated. At this point, Najenda was almost certain that when they go out into battle, whether or not they'd win was leaning far more towards the latter outcome or at the very least, she felt in her bones that even if by some slim chance or freak accident they did survive, she was most likely not going to be a part of the group that lasts.

Not that it mattered much to her anyway since hey, going out for a cause she fought for and believed in sounded way better than dying for nothing and she did have the small sliver of hope that they would pull through far in the back of her mind but until then, everything just started to seem all the more bleak. Upon giving it a bit more thought, she felt a few more tears trickle down her face which led to her remembering a similar moment that occurred with Tatsumi as well as her lines about how his focus should be on the mission and not letting them die in vain, that there was no time for crying and yet here she was, actually letting it out. All possible hypocrisy aside, Najenda just sat back took in a deep breath and buried her face into her knees all the while one final thought crossed her mind.

"Susanoo, if you're listening right now... know that you were more than just a weapon and that you were loved all the same. And that I... we deeply regret not taking the chance to show how much you meant to us."

* * *

( _Finalizer_ )

A blaring, piercing white light woke Tatsumi suddenly as he coughed and sputtered awake, struggling to breathe, his heart repeatedly beating against his chest with such force that it was shaking both the fabric of his slightly worn, bloody jacket as well as the cold... metal? The moment the icy cold smooth surface nipped at one bit of his exposed wrists, the boy's eyes quickly darted around the unfamiliar dark, scarcely lit room, his eyes widening at the combination of red and white lights and the flickering square panels with his ears perking with the sound of inhuman hums, beeps and squeals of machinery going about its mundane task. Panic rising within him, he tugged his arms repeatedly, each time adding more and more strength but the clamps would not break or loosen.

"What... the..." Was all he could let out in his attempt to exclaim his surprise when the sudden spike of pain rippled through his jaw, causing him to then attempt to shut his mouth. Unfortunately, the universe was clearly not on his side as his mouth felt sore, so much so in fact that he realized he couldn't fully close it, his response to that little discovery being a most quiet utterance of "Damn.". Through a few more jostles, he quickly came to realize that there was something wrapped around his chest. It felt like some sort of thick steel with there being just barely enough room for him to breathe and when he attempted to raise his hands in an attempt to maybe find a lock to disengage, he both remembered that his wrists were tightly bound to the contraption he was on by two thick metallic rings which made him feel like an idiot and that his arms were being held down by the same sort of mechanism.

That didn't stop him from trying to free himself though. After all, even if his last memory just so happened to line up with this whole situation or if this was a dream, he still wasn't willing to let himself go out without a fight. And so, Tatsumi's weak body lightly jostled around for several seconds up to a full minute or at the very least, it seemed as though his movements were light. The surface he was laying upon was hard and slightly bumpy, presumably to try and accommodate both the extra mechanisms that were stored inside the structure as well as maybe his own body shape. Speaking of the contraption, Tatsumi quickly realized with a little hint of unease through a quick look and his own deduction skills that with how he was still looking for the most part straight on albeit on a slight slant combined with the metal clamps holding him down that he must've been in a holding cell of some kind, one that he wanted to say was like the one he was in when Esdeath had brought him back to the Capital in chains but upon giving it more than just a few seconds of a glance, he quickly came to realize that wasn't to be.

He squinted at the doorway ahead of him, red and white lights sparsely scattered about the somewhat familiar recognizable surface with panels letting out distinct whirs, crunches and chimes, all of which were completely foreign to his ears. Honestly had he not known any better, he would've thought this was just one of many outlandish nightmares that he used to have upon first joining up with Night Raid about what the Imperial holding cell must've looked like which would often times end with soldiers entering the room followed up by him letting out one long blood-curdling scream that would follow him in his transition back to the real world much to the frustration and amusement of any nearby teammates who would usually express their annoyance before following it up with a laugh about how they remember the few times they've had similar experiences.

Oh how he wished it was just some joke, how everything that has ever happened to him up until that point was just some harmless if a little morbid gag that he could laugh off a few moments later and get on with his day. Especially once the sound of boots clamoring down the hall echoed faintly within his eardrums, each step strangely increasing in volume as time went on and seemed to be perfectly matched with how his heartbeat was picking up in its pace which was strange for someone like him who had once been in captivity before this point so the fact that his heart was already quickening in its beat as though this was his first was quite the oddity.

That was until he heard the beeping and crunching of a control panel, followed by the door hissing to life as two panels retracted into the walls, revealing a sliver of black fabric, fabric that seemed to almost exactly match the kind that was present on the robes of his captor, a thought that soon had him seething with rage with the sensation only seeming to grow once the full body was revealed and a cold feminine voice sounded off.

"Hello my love." The former Imperial greeted, her voice disturbingly calm. "It has been quite a long time." The moment the ice queen's familiar seductive yet psychotic chords entered his eardrums was the moment the boy threw himself against the bonds in one last ditch effort to break free, one last supreme motion to escape this living hell. Smirking at his last burst of strength, Vitani began to edge her way closer, all the while implementing as subtle of a Force motion as she could with the removal and hanging of her cap on a nearby wall and all the while this went on, Tatsumi felt as the strength within him rapidly faded, the urge to throw out a possible brave quip or retort leaving his system along with it. All the boy felt right now was the purest, most volatile form of hatred, a sensation that his interrogator seemed to sense when he saw her smirk shift into a full grin.

"You needn't struggle, these bonds were made with the absolute toughest metals one could find. Pushing against it as much as you did will only crack you and not your target." Feeling a little bit of strength return as memories of the tournament passed through his system, the boy turned his head to face the general with piercing green eyes.

"Honestly I'd rather have that happen to me than spend another moment with either the Empire or the First Order." Tatsumi replied, not making any attempt to hide his vitriol until just a few seconds later when his brain gave him a snap back to reality on who he was speaking to which caused him to shut up almost immediately and his eyes to keep locked on her. Through the little bit of time he spent with the Empire which involved for the most part him either being spooned in bed or doing a bit of digging with the confirmation coming in the form of when him and the ice queen were trapped on that island, Esdeath had become rather infamous among the group and especially to Najenda for her gruesome as all hell torture tactics and wicked temper with special notes being given to one time where one soldier was being rather testy with her following rumors that they were committing acts of treachery.

It was later revealed rather quickly that these were very much nothing but empty hollow words started up probably by some fool who took a personal disagreement way too seriously but the general, she didn't necessarily care about the result. From that point the details got a bit muddled since the one he spoke to was clearly not a fan of the Empire but was wanting to keep their life as they were speaking rather quickly but from what he could gather, it didn't exactly end well for the soldier as they apparently had to clean up a huge bloody mess following their actions.

With this in mind, Tatsumi leaned back against the contraption holding him, watching and waiting for the former Imperial to do her worst. Much to his surprise seconds later, she simply kept her smile though he could tell her tone was tinged with some hint of disappointment.

"I thought you'd say that. Well it can't be helped, after all you had quite the eye for revolution back when you met me." The warrior's eyes flashed, the blue seeming to be tinged with red for a split-second. "Speaking of which, I just have to ask... why did y-"

"Why Night Raid?" Tatsumi finished, his voice showing a surprising lack of love. Stuck in a state of dazed shock, Esdeath blinked silently at him before nodding seconds later. "I may not exactly possess the most love for them now, especially Najenda but one thing's for certain, they're a hell of a lot better for this nation than you or the Empire ever was." Shaking her surprise free, Esdeath felt her smile return. Of course the comment upset her and had this been her from the past, she most certainly would've closed the distance right there and done something to silence the fool but whether it was because this 'fool' was her love or the might of the Dark Side that coursed through her veins, she felt her anger both come and go within a flash.

"I hope you'll be relieved to know that I share your grievances with the Empire." Esdeath said crossing her arms, smirking at the surprised glint in her love's eye. "They were a band of unkempt, untrained and not to mention uncivilized animals just barely able to be held together by a useless drunk who was lucky enough to be able to speak to the interests of the people."

"S-So you listened to my words?" Almost immediately, Tatsumi felt his arm instinctively try to rise to slap himself for that bout of ignorance, only to wince slightly as his arm hit the cold steel a little bit too hard than what he was wanting or expecting. Chuckling quietly to herself, the former Imperial started to ease her way towards him.

"In a sense I guess you could say that. After all, I didn't dare to go near the murderers, traitors you called the Revolutionary Army and instead chose to align myself with the First Order."

"I noticed, usually I don't expect all-black wearing Imperials with laser-swords to be a common trend." Chuckling a bit more at her captive's small bit of bravado, Esdeath just kept easing herself closer.

"And what you call 'laser-swords' are just one of many incredible examples of efficiency that the First Order possesses over the Empire and Revolutionary Armies. I would go down the entire list though I'm sure you have a good enough idea." Tatsumi couldn't help but nod in agreement albeit with a hint of disgust for himself. After all, he got to witness first-hand exactly the kind of skill, endurance and equipment a standard (or at least what he thought was standard) foot soldier possessed, the design of the room and wherever it was located acting only as further vindication.

Speaking of which, considering he had not even the slightest of hints to where he was, he felt he had no choice but to ask even if his position should've told him otherwise.

"Where am I anyway?" The ice queen smirked at her love's face, noting how he always had been so fond of asking millions of questions as she found out from her time with him on that island.

"Does the physical location really matter much?" In Esdeath's voice there was the gentleness that the boy had come to expect from just every time they engaged one another. It wasn't quite sympathy which he'd be an idiot to expect from someone like Esdeath but it did lack the hostility he would've expected from someone who found out a lie as massive as what he pulled off. "I'm just happy to have you back within my grasp."

With that said, the former Imperial extended one arm out towards Tatsumi, her fingers upon just barely grazing his cheek causing him to shiver with a mixture of disgust as well as fright but only for a split-second as he would rather not have it be known that she was intimidating him even more than she already was, even with the disturbingly seductive tone she took.

"This was all I ever wanted, no Empire, no Revolutionary Army, no Jaegers, just you and me." As she felt her body beginning to heat up ever so slightly, she flashed a grin. "Together at long last." As the molestation of his face continued on, Tatsumi found it rather surprising that he was starting to feel even more helpless than he already was and was searching for something, anything that could keep him calm. Hell, even the voice of Yoda who had been most oddly silent throughout the session was something he welcomed by this point as it would at least take his mind off of the disturbing imagery that passed through his mind.

Imagery that he didn't realize was being watched by someone else.

"You certainly have some... interesting thoughts." Esdeath said, a slight blush showcasing across her face once her love's eyes widened with shock. "Thoughts that we definitely could explore later..." Realizing that her voice was trailing off and that she was pressing just a bit too far into the boy's chest, the former Imperial immediately re-situated herself, pulling back until she was standing completely straight with one hand still resting on her lover's cheek.

"But now's not the time."

"Thankfully." Tatsumi thought. "But in that case, what are you doing here anyway? Were you going to execute me?" At that moment, the ice queen just had to laugh.

"Had I never known about the First Order or the Dark Side then maybe." Halting herself after a few seconds, her tone noticeably darkened. "Though there is still a chance of that happening if you don't comply."

"Comply? Comply with what?" Esdeath sighed. Such a pity to her that youth had to be so naive at times.

"Tatsumi, you know as well as I that it's not too late to change your mind." Esdeath said, slowly rubbing Tatsumi's cheek. "You must be so unhappy with how the Revolutionary Army has been treating you, so pained that they have not a single shred of care for their members, especially if they die in battle." As this was going on, what was quite possibly the faintest whisper Yoda had ever let out just so happened to ring within his eardrums with the message unfortunately unable to be made out. What he could gather though was that it probably had something to do with the Dark Side and how he needed to resist it which as far as Tatsumi was concerned, he was already prepared to do so.

Though he had to admit, those comments about Night Raid did strike a cord within him but not the one anyone would expect. It was of anger for sure but it wasn't quite for the person telling him this as much as it was for the group itself, a feeling that Esdeath seemed to notice right away judging by how a grin flashed across her face, her tone becoming a bit more seductive and maybe slightly hypnotic in nature.

"I can only imagine how much that must've hurt to have to hear who you considered your allies, friends contemplating your future demise." Upon hearing the last word, Tatsumi right away noticed and felt the sensation of something or someone poking and prodding at his mind. "It's almost like they've forgotten just how much you've done for them, how you did most of the heavy-lifting to get them to the stage they are now and yet, such an important part of the revolution needs to be tossed out, all because you weren't a good enough puppet for Najenda." Despite who it was this info was coming from, Tatsumi could feel his fists beginning to clench, his teeth gritting and adrenaline coursing through his veins which were becoming more and more defined in the flesh with every second all the while Esdeath's grin continued to grow, especially when she came across a few more items that could be put to some very good use.

"It really makes you think, with all that talk about Night Raid being a group that does the right thing and consists of humans, were they really all that heroic in the first place? Especially when you consider how you were forced into it?" As much as he hated to admit it, the ice queen did indeed have a point there. His reason for joining Night Raid, if you can even call it that, pretty much sprang about due to how he bore witness to their assassination attempt on that young blonde girl and her family, making it to where if he wanted to keep his life, he pretty much had no choice but to join up as the risks of refusing the offer very much outweighed the positives. Fast forward a few days and Tatsumi then found himself going from being at the very least unsure of the whole group to being completely on board with it with the ones who he was at odds with at first becoming those who he shared the most personal of connections with.

Which made it all the more angering, shocking and heartwrenching when he heard the discussion between Lubbock and Najenda, a moment which even to this very day always has him asking himself whether or not he really was considered a part of the team. Seeing that he was asking it now judging by his expression, the ice queen knew she had him and that now, all that she needed to give was the punchline which if it worked would make it so that Tatsumi would at long last be by her side.

"It's not too late for you to break free." Esdeath began, her tone gaining strength. "I know that the Empire has caused you so much pain as did the First Order but please try to understand that it was for a greater cause." Tatsumi's eyes flared up ever so slightly.

"What?"

"Even if you were to find some way to return to them before the attack, you would've found not the life you once knew but one tainted by the lies spread by the Revolutionaries, one that's way too fragile for its own good. Tatsumi, as much as you want to deny it, your hatred for Najenda, your seething rage for that woman, it's not doing Night Raid any favors. In fact, you might say that it's only giving them more reasons to take you down, not so unusual given their penchant for treachery and lies has been at an all-time high as of late." Tatsumi wouldn't necessarily say that they were lies. Sure they angered him and certainly did nothing to convince him that they were a group to be loved but to state that they were lying seemed a bit too far-fetched but he had to admit, it didn't seem like it was to the extent of Esdeath's kindness which the more he thought about seemed all the more fake to him, especially with all that he did to her.

"I know I should be taking my chance now, that I should take my saber and ram it through your heart for all that you've done..." Her tone softened some. "But even then, just seeing your face it... it douses the ember of fury within me. Please Tatsumi, it's not too late to join me and the Order, I know they've hurt you so much already but then again, so has Night Raid." Tatsumi just overall couldn't believe what he was hearing. All this and more just to try and gain his membership, his loyalty to a group that not only were complete strangers but had already confirmed themselves as being heartless monsters of the highest caliber with their actions far outranking possibly both the Empire and Danger Beasts combined, all of it just made him sick to his stomach.

"Please do consider it and I promise you that if you do join us, you will be forgi-"

"A bitch's forgiveness is something I can live without." Tatsumi cut in gruffly. "My answer is simple and sweet. I will never fight for the First Order."

"I-I beg your pardon?" Noticing the break in tone sent a few shivers down the boy's spine as did the sight of her lightly gripping the saber by her belt, ready to ignite it at any time but by this point, he had not a shred of care left.

"You heard me, I will not fight for the First Order, especially if you're a part of i-" Tatsumi's harsh unforgiving hisses were immediately cut off by the loud flaring of life that ringed within his ears followed up by a rapid hum as a single crimson blade was soon held just mere inches away from his throat.

"If you will not accept then you know what must happen. Tatsumi, please don't be such a f-"

"I will die for what I believe in. I may share no love for any group which now includes Night Raid but I cannot and will not serve someone as tyrannical as you or Kylo Ren." The ice queen felt her muscles beginning to tense with rage. Surely Tatsumi wasn't actually going to force her to kill him was he? Surely he knew just how massive of a mistake this was and how this would end far more horribly than he was imagining currently?

But then again, maybe he could tell that she wasn't willing to do it and that he took her not at all well hidden attempts at stalling the process as being a sign of such.

"You're making a big mistake. Don't make me do this."

"Am I?" Tatsumi asked rather mockingly. "Do the words of a murderer really hold such merit that they must be followed without question?" Before Esdeath could retort, Tatsumi continued on. "You know, it's always fascinating to see how people like you justify your actions, how the answer for all the horrible acts you commit is either 'I do it for love.' or 'I have to do so.'. Yes this isn't much different from Night Raid and as I've said before, I don't exactly possess the love I used to for them. I feel that as protectors of this world they'd do a hell of a lot more harm than good if they continue down their path in believing compassion and sadness to be weaknesses and I do admit that the fact they essentially lied to me about being a part of the team and were just going to throw me out is possibly the most hurtful thing they could do." A few seconds later, Tatsumi's voice gained a bit more strength, raising and morphing into a bit of a growl.

"I also do believe that if they were to finally obtain what they wanted that the power will inevitably corrupt them and that everything will be back to square one at least until Night Raid decides that the Revolutionary Army is a threat and that it needs to be taken down. However, if there is one thing I can credit this group on, it's that there are at least those present who actually are fighting to make a difference, at the very least I can look at them and say with utmost honesty that they are trying their best to do what is right and absolutely necessary for this world to thrive. Hell even those I dislike within the group I know are trying their best and while I certainly don't desire to be a part of them from here on out, I feel even less of a desire to join with you." Despite feeling the urge to make Tatsumi pay, the former Imperial held her breath and let him continue, her blade still being kept inches away from his throat.

"Tatsumi, I..."

"If given the choice between being devoured by Danger Beasts and having to be your slave for all of eternity, I'd choose the former without a second thought and trust me when I say that I had absolutely no thoughts like this before but now that I've seen and heard everything, now that I know exactly the kind of person you are, I realize just how much of a fool I was for believing I could try and change you or better yet, that you were even a person worth redeeming. Even to this day it makes me sick, I believed that you, a heartless, cold bitch of a commander who's only pleasure in life is to torture and kill all who stand in your way and cause mass destruction was even worth saving and I have to unfortunately live with that fact... but unlike you I put my efforts into something that actually was worth a damn." With every word that was uttered, with every venomous remark, Esdeath could feel her self-control beginning to loosen and her being forced to use more and more effort to refrain from trying anything on the boy right then and there.

"Please st-"

"Let me tell you exactly what I hate about you ...it's that disgusting attitude of yours that repulses me. No, it's more than that, it's the complete lack of empathy you possess for all your victims, how you will sometimes even go as far as to take those innocents captive and force them to watch as you proceed to 'toy' with whatever family they may have, showcasing clear joy as you either drive them into a mad fury or as they cry and beg for forgiveness. It's that face I see with pure joy that lets someone suffer because she thinks she's doing them a 'favor'. And for what?! To impress me?! Is it to impress your superiors?! Oh wait, I know, it's actually because that monstrosity you called a father led you to believe that this was necessary, that this was how the world works and yet despite growing up away from your father, you can't even tell the simple fact that this is completely wrong! My group may have been hypocrites sure in that regard but at least they didn't stoop to the levels you did, at least they use their amazing skills in positive ways that benefit humanity! Where as you're still convinced you're above everyone else. That everyone must bow down and lick your boots otherwise they'll endure brutal torture and I'm sure the same will happen to me. After all, it must be the answer for everyone that can see through your facade and see what a heartless bitch you are."

"Tatsumi, en-"

"I'm not finished yet bastard! What I especially hate about you, the only thing that has managed to simultaneously make me sick to my stomach as well as quiver in fear is how you cannot take a hint. From the very beginning even before you slapped that chain on me, I possessed absolutely no interest in you whatsoever and you know what? I was sure you'd get it eventually what with you being one of the most trusted members of the Empire and all but the fact you couldn't even stop to think for just five seconds about how I react to you every time we're around one another, the fact that you were so naive, so blind, so unbelievably stupid to where you actually believed that someone like me would go for someone as cold as you is just icing on the cake for how fucking dense you really are! No matter what the situation we may be in and even as I lay strapped to this contraption. I will never, ever be your boyfriend for as long as I'm still breathing and if you still haven't gotten the hint now, I'll make it absolutely clear to you." With that, Tatsumi took in a nice deep breath, making sure to enjoy it for a bit longer in case this would be his final one before speaking in a tone that was filled with nothing but pure spite, very similar to Esdeath's own.

"How dar-"

"I'm not afraid of you, you sick little bitch. I'm sick of you, I'm sick of your shit, I'm sick of your constant ridiculous attempts at trying to earn my love and most notable of all, I'm sick of having to share a world with you. Right now, all I desire is for you to take that blade and run me through, at least then I will die with some dignity, knowing that I stood for what I believed in, knowing that I didn't fall for someone who's only joy in this world is gained through war and destruction. But you won't do that, will you? Because as much as you hate to admit it, I'm possibly the only other thing in this world that gives a bitch like yours a purpose and killing me will expose everyone to the truth. You're no all powerful general nor are you worthy of being a part of this First Order, you are nothing but temperamental bitch who got through their life with luck, hypocrisy and disloyalty now that you've left the Empire and to be honest, I don't think some prick in a mask is much better than a fat drunk, especially if you're still the weak pathetic lapdog without a backbone." For the first time in a long, long while, Esdeath felt herself completely boiling with rage.

Remaining completely still and silent with the exception being the occasional twitching and grunts every few seconds or so, Tatsumi watched without any sort of care as the woman's face started shifting, even when her eyes became nothing but soulless black slits. Their attention still being locked on one another, the two failed to notice the door behind them opening with Esdeath in particular not being able to sense the presence of the man standing within that doorway. Instead a few seconds later, the general let out a simple utterance, one that was filled with malice.

"So be it." Without any hesitation, the warrior drew her saber back with a mighty roar, her yellow and red eyes staring down into Tatsumi's soul without the slightest hint of remorse, a sight that the boy had to admit completely terrified him as he then began to regret everything he had ever said to someone as psychotic as Esdeath. Certain that this was it, Tatsumi shut his eyes tight, waiting for the blade to come ripping through his body. Without further delay, Esdeath brought the weapon down into its lethal arc when she felt her body come to a screeching halt and in just mere seconds, she watched as her blade disappeared back into the cylinder and as her torso went from being stiffly situated down on the metal floor to being flung backward through the air, just barely missing the door as it closed shut, locking mechanisms clicking in place moments later. Still agitated, the general was just about to try and make a move when she felt a gloved hand roughly shove her against the door itself, forcing her to look into the masked visage of her master.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kylo demanded, making no attempts at hiding his dissatisfaction. "Have you completely lost your mind?!"

"I'm deeply s-"

"Your apologies mean nothing to me, Vitani!" Kylo growled. "You realize how stupid, how brash that was?! I gave you strict orders to keep him alive, I thought I could trust you enough so that I could leave with Hux for a small little display at the Capital and this..." The Dark Lord's tone possessed far more in common with the unfiltered and unapologetic rage of both the Danger Beasts that graced Earth as well as various Sith of the past. "THIS IS WHAT YOU THOUGHT I NEEDED?!"

Vitani swallowed hard, she wasn't one to be fearful or at least unnerved by someone but with how Kylo was at the moment, she was certain that one wrong move, one slip of the tongue and he'd be rushing to cut her down. "No master, I was not at all what I intended."

"Is that so? Tell me my apprentice, how was I supposed to in any way misinterpret someone raising their lightsaber over their head with a guttural growl?" The former Imperial opened her mouth for a split-second until she realized that there was no way she could try and work her way out of this one and that it was best for her to just take it with at least some degree of responsibility.

"I truthfully am sorry." Vitani said, bowing her head in shame. "It's that boy, I j-"

"You're just so infatuated with him aren't you?" Vitani nodded to which Kylo responded by easing himself towards her. "Here's a tip, for the sake of your sanity and mine, get over it."

The apprentice's tone possessed a significant amount of shock. "Excuse m-"

She was interrupted. "You know exactly what I said. This romance you're pursuing is a complete and utter farce, it always has been and always will be." At that point Vitani couldn't help but possess a certain degree of frustration. Sure Kylo was her master but there was no way she was going to let her badmouth her longstanding love for the boy, even if he did pretty much crush her dreams prior.

"My connection with him is as real as you can get. He just needs to come ar-"

"How long have you been telling yourself that? How long is it gonna be until you realize that this denial is unhealthy for you?"

"I know it's true, I feel it in the F-"

"You feel nothing!" Kylo interjected. "I hope you haven't forgotten that I too can sense the Force and thus can notice those subtle nods because I have my senses as alert as I can have them at the moment and there is nothing that indicates you two as having a future together!" Before Vitani could say anymore, the Dark Lord gripped his apprentice by the shoulders. "Search your feelings, let your eyes open to the truth knight of Ren!" After taking a few more seconds to do as Kylo told her, Vitani found much to her dismay that the man was right.

Not willing to accept it though, she made sure to double, triple, even quadruple-check everything only to find that the result that came about was the exact same and she didn't even need to say it out loud as Ren could already tell through the tears that started to well up in her eyes what the true answer was.

"Anyways." Kylo began, his tone softening some. "I can tell that boy possesses a lot of willpower, typical of lost youths his age." He slowly turned his attention towards the door, his hand casually without the need to look wiping the tears from his apprentice's face. "But nothing that I can't handle, all I need is to apply what the Supreme Leader taught me and I should be on my way." Casually, Kylo began to use the Force on the control panel, ready to embark on his task when suddenly just seconds later, he felt a heat engulf his shoulder.

"Wait, before you go I just have to a-"

"There's always something." Kylo grumbled to himself. "Well go ahead, while my attention is diverted. Tell me."

"Just... why did you have to go out and crush my love for Tatsumi?"

"It's not crushing as much as it is just revealing the truth." Kylo sighed. "Too many people like you fall for this lie, this whole idea that the one who you must be with is the unobtainable. Too many believe this whole laughable ruse that the will of the Force speaks to those who are opposites when in reality, your true love, the one you've been seeking..." Right as the door slid open, Kylo shifted his gaze back towards his apprentice.

"Just happens to be the one you've been working with this whole time. Now if you excuse me, I'll be off working." Being one who was nowhere near as naive as others, it took Vitani only a few seconds to realize exactly who Kylo was talking about and only a few extra to recognize all the signs such as her keeping her arm wrapped around him for slightly too long and what they were pointing towards.

But before she could stop Kylo one final time, the door slammed shut once more, leaving her to pine over her newly found masked love.

* * *

 _Author's Addendum:  
_

 **Oh man did Lucasfilm pull through for me with this one, oh my lord that Rogue One trailer was awesome.**

 **Other than that, there isn't really much to say here except for a little special response for one of my reviewers on here and that person just so happens to be Thaqif, the same person who gave me that idea for a crossover between PlanetSide and Akame ga Kill and fairly recently, he ended up posting a few more ideas on here that he seemed to wish I'd respond to and give my thoughts on each and every one of them and I felt with this chapter, I was more than happy to oblige so let's not waste anymore time and jump right in.**

 **Warframe: Kill the Lightning (AKG X Warframe): Before I really begin, I just want to say that regarding your idea Planet ga Kill, it was not at all a bad idea and that me turning it down was just due to a lack of interest in the property involved and unfortunately, I have to just say that the same goes for this one and unlike PlanetSide, Warframe was a game I found that I really just didn't care for as in not only did I not really have too much fun with it but overall it just didn't interest me.**

 **As far as the story concept is concerned, I can't help but feel there are a few similarities between the two ideas but that doesn't matter since it does look interesting and it could turn out to be quite fun but overall with my lack of care and enjoyment for Warframe along with a few other elements, unfortunately I have to decline this one. That isn't to say my opinions may change and that it does happen at some point but as of now, I'm not really feeling it.**

 **Guardians and Assassins: It's a decent idea but unfortunately it's not one I'm interested in. I don't really know if this is meant to be a crossover or what franchise it's based on but overall it's not something I'm going to indulge in.**

 **Death Await to Reap and Sow: Out of all the ideas so far, this one is actually one of the most interesting and one I definitely am considering for a story. It sounds cool, it can really lead into some interesting twists and I think it's just overall a really good idea.**

 **Akame Enemy Unknown: Now this is something I can definitely work with. While I never was into the RTS genre, XCOM was a series that I've enjoyed for a good while and I think if anything this really could become one awesome story.**

 **Warhammer 40 Time to Kill: Oh boy this is where I might piss off some people so let me just get it out of the way right now...**

 **I've never liked Warhammer.**

 **Out of all of that I've seen from this series I just have no interest in it whatsoever and while the idea is cool, it's because of my lack of knowledge and care for a franchise that I have to decline this.**

 **Fallout: New Earth: I loved the hell out of Fallout and I definitely enjoy Fairy Tail, overall the idea is cool and is something I'll probably make into a story in the future.**

 **And while we're on the subject of you Thaqif, I think now's a good time to really sit down, pull back the curtain and tell you a bit about what's going on behind the scenes as well as what I do and why I do it and to kick everything off, let's chat a bit about how I respond to people. Now as you've probably noticed in the review section if you've ever checked it on occasion for whatever reason you may have, I tend to respond to people through those reviews and have even on occasion gone off of my own account to do so (a tendency of mine that I am working to cut back on.). Now of course no one seems to have paid much attention to it with the exception of Thaqif who said that it might be cheating for me to just increase the review count and to be fair, it kind of is considering that I'm a guy looking for more people to come on board and say something so the increased counts may either leave me feeling a bit confused or in fact it might cause some issues for the audience who's reading this.**

 **My response is simply this is just how I respond to people initially. Whenever a new chapter is posted, I'll usually try my best to leave a quick review that will either clear up a few misconceptions that may inevitably arise with the release. It may be cheating but this is just how I run things on here so if you're not a fan of it well... I really don't know what I can say other than that I appreciate you for being quite civil about this.  
**


	27. Chapter 27

_Author's Note:_

 **I don't usually do ANs for this story but I felt now was most necessary to say this. Anyone who is reading this, I highly urge you to read the addendum at the very end all the way through before reviewing this story. It contains a lot of explanation for certain choices I make here which may seem controversial to some and while it does in reality come down to mainly personal taste, I did feel that this was a decision that some people were going to question and so I wanted to make sure that when that time came at the very least everyone could understand why this decision was made.  
**

 **Again I repeat, read the story as well as the addendum all the way through before reviewing everything.**

* * *

( _Finalizer_ )

Time seemed to slow as his family's killer stepped into the room, his tall, lean stature combined with his dark robes and simplistic but eerie mask giving him that same inhuman look that he had grown to loathe during their confrontation. Thoughts raced through his mind, half crazed, wholly powerless. His body was shaking uncontrollably as though he was trying to empty his bowels, shaking with rage or maybe a combination of both. Along with that, his heart pounded, his lungs heaved, all sensations that the shadowy figure seemed to sense or at least, that's what he was led to believe judging by the subtle movements as he had no idea about the face behind the mask.

As casual as if it were a simple jog or discussion, the dark warrior scrutinized the prisoner whose nerves twanged as goosebumps started to rise. In particular, Ren's gaze was settled on the boy's face and was quite fascinated that out of all of what his imagination could conjure with what FN-2199 had given him, the one who had given him such a hassle was but a mere teenager. Back then, he would've most likely chuckled at the thought but then again, he was approaching this situation awhile after a scavenger who looked about his age was able to humiliate him so needless to say, he had not the time nor patience to joke around or take things lightly as evidenced by the plain but direct tone in his voice.

"No one has ever been able to rile up my apprentice quite like you did. It's just a shame it won't help you much here."

Tatsumi had expected no less. "I wouldn't be so quick to assume."

It was at this point that Kylo let out a mental chuckle, the words of his prisoner just so happening to remind him of similar engagements he had both on Jakku and with that one Resistance pilot, both of whom tried to act as tough and fearless as can be but were eventually forced to their knees by the overwhelming might of the Order and from what he could tell, things were about to go the same way.

"This coming from a boy who has little understanding of the Force? I'm impressed you'd be so bold." Even though it had a chance of just being a careful choice of words, the boy did take special notice in how Kylo said he had little understanding and not that he had no understanding which then brought special attention to the light probing feeling in his thoughts similar to the sensation he felt during his moment with Esdeath.

However, despite the imminent danger that was present, Tatsumi did his best to sound as nonchalant as humanly possible. "Not used to your captives talking like this?"

"Actually," Crossing his arms, Kylo just gave the boy one cold hard stare, showing just how little the words affected him. "I'm very used to fools like you speaking out against me but it's not a huge deal-breaker." A few seconds later, the dark warrior began to slowly make his way towards his prisoner, his eyes not leaving his for one moment. "All I need to do is apply a bit of pressure and you'll break all the same." The moment he finished his sentence, all Tatsumi could think about was just how sinister, how cold Kylo seemed to be compared to Esdeath to the point where he didn't even know who was worse or what elements they had over one another with the exception of one particular detail.

At least with Esdeath, he could see her eyes which while lacking in compassion, did show that she had a soul from time to time as hard as it was to believe. With Kylo, all he had to look at was that dark, menacing, emotionless mask and more specifically the visor which had a tint so dark, so concealing that one might say what was behind that surface was pure, unspeakable, unrelenting, unapologetic evil and that sentiment was only provided further vindication with the sound of his words and how the only thing that seemed to be reflecting off of the helmet's surface was his own fear.

"Are you... comfortable?" Tatsumi shook his head.

"Honestly, your basic accommodations for guests leave a lot to be desired."

"My apologies." Ren said with a hint of falseness. "But I really care not for your current state, the focus is on the talk after all, not pointless fisticuffs." Tatsumi tried to cock his head to the side only to be reminded of the restraints around his neck, something that Kylo took note of along with him and a few seconds later, he listened and felt as the restraints clicked open, the regular flow of air that returned making him feel all the more relieved as well as confused at the dark warrior's surprising act of kindness. Seeming to perceive his response at a moment's notice, Kylo shot down whatever notion he had faster than a T-16 could shoot down a womp-rat.

"Don't get used to it, I only did that as the restraint was unnecessary." Silence filled the room soon after, giving Kylo ample time to really get a good look at his captive's features, features that were just barely struggling to keep the rage he felt from boiling to the surface, rage that was dangerously close to his own.

"You really desire to kill me don't you?" Kylo asked, his head cocked to the side. "I guess that's understandable, what I did in your eyes must be considered so reprehensible." The boy scoffed in response.

"That and honestly, you tend to feel that way when their killer is a monster in a mask." Behind the mask, Ren couldn't help but roll his eyes. This again? Did he really just have to echo that desert girl right now? Granted he had absolutely no clue that someone had already said that to him prior and so he didn't know this was giving him a sense of deja vu but the point still stood that he didn't exactly want to hear that again. Regardless, he realized it couldn't be helped and he was planning on going maskless for a bit anyway later on so he guessed doing it now wouldn't hurt, especially if it meant getting closer to his ultimate goal.

With all this in mind, Tatsumi watched helplessly as the man quickly undid the cape around his neck and pulled back the hood with the Force before slowly and rather agonizingly grasping the metal dome, his mind soon running wild with speculation as to who or what it could be underneath the mask, underneath the robes. His heart began to rapidly pick up in pace, his defenses were already ramping up to the next level once the mouthplate slowly moved up in a hiss and it was all out of fright for what lay behind the mask of Kylo Ren. Finally in the speed of only a few blinks, the dark helmet came off of the skull and was set rather neatly through subtle telekinetic movement down on one of the nearby consoles, revealing not a monstrous, Danger Beast-like demon but a narrow human face, stained only by a scar tracing up through his eye and the intense gaze which reminded him who it was but other than that, he looked as though he could've been someone he'd meet in the Revolutionary Army.

Which just made him all the more terrified.

"Tell me, do you regard me as a monster now?" He finally asked, tone slightly prouder than usual. The boy just shook his head, not knowing what exactly he could say. His face showing no trace of emotion, the man began to slowly make his way towards him. "I hope you understand that the type of person I am, it isn't too different from that band of criminals you call Night Raid."

Tatsumi's eyes narrowed with fury. "They at least kill with reason, they do so for the peop-"

"That's what they all say." Kylo interrupted. "And no matter how many times it's repeated, it has always sounded hypocritical to me."

His anger getting the better of him, Tatsumi replied with a lack of tact, despite the massive looming danger. "This coming from a murderous bastard like you?" Words affecting him about as much as a rock to a trooper's helmet, the dark warrior responded not with outrage or any sort of reaction, just a light scoff.

"Had that village cooperated when they were asked to give us the information we needed, they would've survived. However because they kept declining our offers and mocked us, we had no choice but to end their worthless existence."

The boy's eyes flared up with anger. "Worthless?"

Kylo sighed. "Warfare is never that pleasant. Often we're forced to do things we don't want to do and sometimes one must let themselves delve into the darkness if they are to obtain peace though I'm sure you know that already."

"That doesn't justify the pain you caused m-"

"And the same goes for what Night Raid embarks on does it not?" Tatsumi stopped in his tracks, giving Kylo's words a bit of thought and found that unfortunately, it was actually somewhat true. No matter how much he wanted to believe otherwise, the type of acts that Night Raid and him would commit was indeed for the purpose of ending the tyranny of the Empire which is why they did it but when he really got down to it, when he really put his mind to work, he knew that deep down that they were still murderers with some not even having hearts of gold as they slaughtered those who did have families and friends who they now couldn't return to and it would all be due to their actions.

"Whether you like it or not, the reasoning why I engage in the actions I do is not for the reason you think it is." Kylo began, taking in Tatsumi's surprise at his sudden showcase of knowledge. "It's simply just one part in my grand mission."

Tatsumi grew furious. "Mission, what mission? Let me guess, you want to enslave or murder everyone on this planet. Is that right you heartless monster?!"

The dark warrior just had to smirk. "There you go again with that word. My boy, I feel you have no idea what a true monster looks like."

"And you say this to me after I've seen your 'work'?" Tatsumi remarked rather snidely, only to be both disappointed and relieved to see it had no effect on Kylo whatsoever as evidenced by his rather bored tone.

"What I am is not a monster. However, that isn't to say my work is at all pleasant since it really isn't... but that's my lot in life. I kill, I torture, I maim... but it's not all for amusement." Tatsumi felt the massive urge to let his jaw hang down with shock. He knew just how insane this man was beforehand but now, he wasn't sure if he was talking to some restrained intelligent marvel or a mental patient. With this in mind, he decided to tread carefully.

"Then what is it for?"

"It's simple." Kylo began. "I do all of this for a cause."

The boy's eyes widened in both shock and fury. "Cause? What cause could a murdering piece of shit like you have?" Paying no mind to the language, Ren just pressed on.

"Only what you crave. Justice for all." Seeing as the boy's anger was beginning to bubble to the surface, Ren couldn't help but smirk, his plan was coming along quite nicely and his captive had no idea about it. "Don't act like you're so surprised, after all you run with a group full of murderous traitors who pursue this goal as much as I do."

"And it is without the death of innocents."

Ren 'playfully' rolled his eyes. "This again? I thought I was clear before. Casualties happen, nothing you can do will change that."

Tatsumi nodded knowingly. "Maybe so but you can't ignore that what is completely wrong and you kn-"

"Oh spare me the arrogance and the stupidity." Kylo interjected. "You really want to keep on with this idea that it's wrong for me to kill, all the while refusing to even think let alone give a second thought about the fact that those you kill in the Empire had lives, families, friends?"

Tatsumi's next few words came out in stammers. "I-I-It's for the greater..."

"If it helps you to sleep at night then please, do keep telling yourself that. Otherwise, the truth is that you've still got no cause to refer to people like me and Esdeath as monsters when you know you're one of them as well."

The boy shook his head. "You're wrong, I am a he-."

He was soon interrupted once more by a voice filled with darkness and bitter truth. "Only a hero in the sense that you are like the Inquisitors of my galaxy's past. You kill without mercy, without compromise, all because you desire true peace and yet as far as I can tell, everything has... not been going well for you has it?" Despite the several questions he had surrounding how Kylo possibly could've known that, Tatsumi felt as his head leaned forward, the weight seeming to become a bit too much for him. After a few seconds had passed and with Ren carefully watching him the whole way through, he was just about to raise his head to speak when he was then cut off with an open palm.

"No need to say it, the Force has already given the confirmation." He curtly nodded. "I already know how much pain you feel, the hatred that courses through your veins, the days you spent in conflict with your commander. I know it all, the Force knows it all. Don't be afraid young one, I too know this feeling." Speaking of the Force, Tatsumi soon found himself once more wondering where his green friend had gone off to especially since unlike his encounter with Esdeath, there wasn't even a slight hint of his voice to go off of. Though then again, this could just be due to the large concentration of Dark Side energy within the area.

Or he could've just lost his mind, there was always that possibility given how everything seemed oddly dreamlike. Regardless of the reason, eventually he just shook his head and gave out the simplest answer he could.

"I highly doubt it." Not buying it one bit, Kylo slowly but nevertheless menacingly outstretched his hand further towards Tatsumi's face, the restraints almost immediately snapping open, leaving him with only a split-second to ponder what happened when he felt a sudden pressure on his skull, the speed at which it happened giving him little time to ready himself for the silent agony that followed.

"Oh but those doubts are unfounded. I know exactly what it feels like to have to be told constantly that the path you're about to lead is only going to leave you in darkness. I know how it feels to have swirling storms continuing to rattle and howl inside you, pleading and begging to be released only to be denied by those who fear your power. I know exactly how it feels to believe that you have everything you ever could've asked for in your entire existence only to then realize that your teacher and life has been throwing out nothing but lies." As time went on, Tatsumi felt the pressure getting worse and worse with what started as a pinching of the brain quickly feeling as though the skull was slowly caving in which he would've thought had it not been for the strange part which was that he heard no bones cracking nor did he feel any blood trickling from his pores. All that he could feel which most definitely passed for pain was an agonizing migraine that seemed to threaten to rip his cranium into two halves and was so bad that it forced him down onto his knees, his face nearly slamming against the cold metal floor when he slipped from the bench.

Struggling against the overwhelming might of Ren, the boy tried his damnedest to speak only to find that either all the air in his lungs left him, his throat became dry or that all he could let out was the occasional grunt. He then thought that maybe he could resist Ren in the physical sense but quickly decided against it when he realized that not only was it an incredibly stupid, brash move that would end up getting him killed but the overwhelming pain seemed to get worse right then and there, as if Kylo had been listening to his thoughts which was only confirmed by the words that followed.

"You seem very keen on believing the lies." He said. "The lies about the Dark Side." Feeling just a bit of strength return to him, the boy gripped his head tightly, eyes shutting almost instinctively due to the pressure, only to be filled with surprise when he found he was not looking into boundless darkness but rather this crimson fog of sorts. Could this be what it looks like to be in the grasp of Kylo Ren? He was given no time to ponder over it when he felt something odd beginning to occur within his mind which happened right at the same time the mist he was viewing began to swirl. Before he could even realize what was going on, he then felt a significant amount of pressure being applied to his eyes much to his confusion and fright, the only one who truthfully knew what was going on being Kylo Ren who was looking on with a smirk.

"This better work, I don't want to regret sparing that ghost planet Mortis of Starkiller's weapons test." With that final thought, Ren took in a deep breath and shut his eyes, completing the final step of the process.

A heavy, mechanical breath, not unlike the one Vader would let out filled the room. Rubbing his eyes, Tatsumi turned to find himself looking around a dark empty room, the few bits of beige that showed through being vaguely reminiscent of both the Imperial Capital and Night Raid HQ and once the lights came on, he saw that the former was correct... and was immediately horrified when he looked up to see not the Emperor, Honest or Esdeath in the throne but rather the stern silver-haired Najenda who possessed an oddly dictator-like appearance with how she was relaxing back in her seat and even sounded like it when she spoke.

"You've outlived your usefulness Tatsumi." "Najenda" began, her voice cold and unfeeling. "Now begone!" Far too wreathed in the moment, Tatsumi failed to notice two guards coming up beside him as a whispery voice sounded off within his mind, telling him of how resistances often turn out to be corrupt or at least that's what he thought he heard as right at that moment, he was too focused on the massive axe being raised into the air, his natural reaction being to throw himself backward just seconds before the blade came down, expecting to fall to the floor only to find himself wincing with pain when he felt himself slam into a hard metal wall, watching as the portion of the floor the axe struck suddenly shattered to pieces before disappearing into the red mist all the while another voice, one far clearer and slightly gravelly echoed within his mind.

"The Dark Side is the very lifeblood of the Force, suppressing it is foolish." Before he even had the slightest chance to recuperate, Tatsumi found his head jerking to the side right as a loud hiss of energy rang in his ears, only to then jump a bit with fright when he saw that when the mist had disappeared, he wasn't looking into the walls of HQ anymore and found that he was right near a broken window, the path of death which he was inches away from looking as though it was a several thousand foot drop that he knew if endured would lead to pieces of him being splattered against three separate sections. Trying his best to back up away from the certain doom, the boy was then stopped by a deep booming tone that was filled with authority and was slightly mocking with the words that were chosen sounding as though they were meant for a completely different person.

"You are far too dangerous to be kept alive my lord." Slowly and shakily, Tatsumi turned to see just inches away from his face was a purple band of energy, very much like the one Kylo wielded except far more stable and straight. The owner who was facing him being a bald dark-skinned man who regarded him not with respect, not with concern but with pure seething hatred like he was nothing but a criminal, an opinion that seemed to be directly opposed by the dark robed man standing a few feet away from them.

"What are you talking about, this is not the Jedi way!"

"So this is a Jedi?" At that moment Tatsumi heard what he thought was the voice of Yoda but wrote it off due to it being far too crackly, faint and not to mention very weak with the voice that went over it instead being the same gravelly tone from before.

"Traitors to the Republic, the Jedi tried to force their views of the Light Side onto the weak-minded, all the while refusing to take action of any kind against actual threats, their only usage of their powers seemingly being purely reserved for making sure that the populace still believed all its lies." Around him now was nothing but a black void, the sounds of unknown voices and the conviction that he might've been losing his marbles along with shock that the Jedi, the supposed peacekeepers were not only rushing to kill whoever it was he took the place of but that the man in dark robes whose energy seemed quite familiar was expressing how it wasn't at all the way of their people. Just what exactly was going on?

"Tatsumi!" Once again without any chance to get a feel for his surroundings, a familiar frightened feminine voice sounded off from the distance, causing him to jump to his feet and anxiously search around.

"Akame?" He called out hopefully, only to not be returned. He tried again every few seconds with the result being the same almost every time, leaving him quite frustrated and confused as the voice sounded quite strong.

Only to then feel his hopes sink and his rage rise after a few more seconds of searching at the sight he uncovered.

"No." He mumbled to himself as he dropped to his knees at the foot of a tall glass staircase. "That's... no." Akame, his best friend, one of the first he had ever bonded with, his best and most trusting partner that kept with him through thick and thin was nothing more than a bleeding mess at the top of the structure... or at least, she would've been had her whole body been around as instead of that, what the boy saw was nothing but her graceful face, twisted in what seemed like her last moment of agony, stuck on a pike, looking rather fresh as it was still oozing with blood. Tears now trickling down his face, he slammed his fist down onto the ground, weeping uncontrollably, his mind just barely being able to pay attention to the voice.

"What mindless philosophers call the high road fail to bring up that the path to it is fragile, pitiful and that all it can lead to is death." Darkness turned to blood red skies, ominous with the heat being almost unbearable as he found when the rocks his hands were resting on started to burn through his flesh slightly. Quickly jerking them away, he stumbled backward, eyes wide at the scene before him of two robed figures, one dressed in white standing at the top of a hill and the other being the same one he witnessed back a few moments earlier standing atop of metal platform, both were carrying cobalt beams of energy. Before he could even figure out what was happening, the dark robed warrior with a scream leaped through the air, weapon at the ready, face full of determination. Without as much as a second thought, the bearded man before him drew his own blade back and with a flourish as graceful as a dance, Tatsumi watched as the blade just barely cut into the man's lower region when he let out a shriek, the location all around him soon shifting back into that of the holding cell with his head resting right next to the boots of Kylo Ren who was staring down at him with a gaze that was so unnervingly calm.

"What was that?" Tatsumi asked, completely out of breath and trying his best to keep from letting the sobs through. Remaining silent, Kylo just stared at him for a moment longer, taking in the success of it all. From what he could sense, it was very likely that the boy did still despise him just as much as he did before if not even more so which would've upset him...

Had that been the intention.

In his eyes, Tatsumi was right at the point he wanted him. Just a few words away from shattering, so frail and so shaken that it would take only one sentence, one simple confirmation for his whole plan to be complete.

"The truth. What you saw was mostly the vision I witnessed when I first obtained the lightsaber of Darth Vader." Kylo explained.

"And the rest?"

"All reflections of what the Imperial archives taught me." Without as much as a second thought, Kylo dropped to his knees and lightly set his hand on the back of the boy's head, rubbing it as he finally let the sadness ripple through his system.

"My apologies for having to show you images so gruesome but I hope you realize now..." His tone and movements now matching that of a nurturing father, Ren lightly lifted the boy's head so that the two were facing one another. "This path you're taking, the one you believe makes you out to be a hero? It only can end in tragedy as it is a legacy marred by violence and hypocrisy." The tears had now gone from being tiny drops to miniature waterfalls that were just pouring down Tatsumi's face non-stop. This was quickly becoming too much for him to bear, the rage, the sadness, all of it had come straight to the surface the moment his psyche shattered.

All that he was fighting for, all that was said to him about how Night Raid's acts were utterly pure and the words uttered to him by Yoda about the Dark Side, they all turned out to be lies which only served to bring about memories about how his first meeting with Leone went where she ended up lying in order to con him out of his cash and it was all for the worthless reward of free drinks which led to him meeting that one girl Aria who turned out to be a sick, twisted psycho and not at all what her demeanor would suggest and overall, he found himself wondering if possibly his entire life was built up on being lied to and swindled and it was with this feeling in mind that led him to his next question.

"Is there any way to stop this?" He asked shakily and through sniffles. "Is there any way for me to not live through this torment?" Resisting the urge to smirk, the dark warrior put on the best soft soothing tone he could, one that almost matched the one used by Lor San Tekka all those days back and gave his answer.

"There is but one way." Kylo began. "Though it's not something I think a Jedi or even Night Raid would cons-"

"I DON'T CARE!" Tatsumi screamed, jumping to his knees right as his hands relentlessly clawed into the lower half of the dark warrior's robe. "The Jedi, Night Raid, none of that matters to me! All I want is to prevent the deaths of those I love and care for! Please just tell me!" His face showing clear pleasure that his plan had worked, Ren simply continued on.

"Very well, I would take the time to ask you if you really are certain you want to know this but considering what you've went through already, I'll spare you the tedium and just dive right in. The only way you are going to gain the strength to protect your friends, the only way to prevent anymore death and destruction from scarring your homeworld is to... is to..."

"Is to what?" Tatsumi asked impatiently. "Tell me!" Taking in a deep breath, Ren let out his answer in a plain but nevertheless booming tone.

"Is to remain with me and learn the ways of the Dark Side as my apprentice." Tatsumi's brow cocked upward.

"Excuse me?" His voice showing no sign of annoyance, Ren continued on.

"I know it's a difficult decision to make and I understand with all that I've caused you, the idea may sound quite ridiculous, maybe even outright stupid." Without as much as a second thought, Kylo telekinetically gripped his robes and proceeded to lightly wipe the tears from the boy's face. "But trust me when I say that it's a necessary evil that will grant you the power you seek. I'm not at all asking for you to befriend me, nor am I asking for your loyalty to the First Order, I'm simply recommending a course of action that if not taken could lead to a catastrophic, tragic future." Setting the robe down, Ren then crossed his arms. "What do you say?"

Down on his knees, Tatsumi remained on the cold hard ground. Motionless. His mind racing with conflict and uncertainty. Even if this path was what he needed to take, even if it was necessary for the sake of protecting the lives of friends, there was still the very, very big chance that all of this could be just some big ruse, that he might end up becoming the very monster he sought to destroy and with that came his first response, one that was just barely choked out.

"I-I can't."

"Sure you can."

Tatsumi shook his head and found the rest of his body threatening to begin shaking once more. "I... my friends..."

"If your friends do not accept the path you take, remember this truth. You are in charge of your own life, not bound by the chains of friendship or your peers, you will have to live and think on your own." Shutting his eyes, Tatsumi took in a deep breath as a few tears slid down his cheek. Despite all that Kylo had put him through, he hated to admit that he was right, remembering how history always seemed to discuss those who disobeyed orders and went down a path of darkness only to turn out to be the best at bringing peace to the land. He remembered how even with those who were as despicable as can be, their plans were in fact built upon good intention and a desire to simply see their world succeed.

He remembered how with his attempt at fighting off that one Stormtrooper, he was the only member of Night Raid to take direct action against the First Order as soon as possible whereas it would've taken Najenda maybe a good two or three weeks of letting senseless destruction pass on by before any real action could be taken and speaking of which, he thought back to that one talk she had with Lubbock a little while back and realized what he thought to be one unfortunate truth.

If he refused, there was the high possibility that he was soon to have no home to go back to.

And with that in mind moments later, he propped himself up on one knee, set his fists flat on the ground and bowed his head, struggling to let out his final answer.

"I'll... I'll j-j-jo..." Brow cocked, Kylo's gaze became all the more intense and anxious with every passing moment, the words of Snoke's teachings flooding his mind about how the final test for him was to sway someone to his side, showing them the error of their current path any way he could. He also cycled through the words he uttered back when they struck the base of Wild Hunt, the realization and excitement that filled him being almost too difficult to hide, especially when finally after a long moment of stammering, Tatsumi finally gave his answer.

"I'll allow you to take me as your apprentice, Kylo Ren." Internally, the voice of the Light Side, Yoda tried to warn Tatsumi of what he believed to be a mistake, how he was letting the darkness prey on his weakness. Quietly and with as much subtlety as he could manage, the boy's new resolve roughly gripped it by the throat and roughly shook it until a lifeless husk remained. The fire in his heart burned brighter than the Sun, no longer was he weak feeble mind who was tricked by those who deemed to be his friends. No longer was his life doomed to end at the hands of his now former silver-haired commander.

Rising to his feet, he felt as the chains of oppression had at long last been broken.

* * *

 _Author's Addendum:  
_

 **WARNING: This is a long one.  
**

 **Before I begin with the main topic of this, I just thought I'd let you know Thaqif that my comments regarding your ideas weren't meant to be taken as me insulting your creativity or anything along those lines. It's why I'm not one of those negative fools who keep telling people to write their own story all because they don't like getting requests and instead I just focus on the ideas separate from the person. I freely accept idea men and I have no problem with them.  
**

 **Also when it comes to me saying things such as some ideas being lazy, they're also not intended to insult. I'm just naturally a blunt, brutally honest person who doesn't shy away from telling people exactly what I think. Of course I do try my hardest to ensure that no one is personally attacked but sometimes it ends up being unavoidable.**

 **Now let's talk about... the main subject of this chapter, the one I'm sure some people are going to be pissed about.**

 **As a writer who commonly reads every review that gets thrown my way and interacts with others through messages, I've definitely found myself becoming very interested in the rather diverse crowd of people who have tuned in to read this story as well as their different little preferences and ideas.  
**

 **For the most part people are really enjoying this dark tale and are understanding why exactly I go with the concepts that I do and have been very supportive. Others have sent me ideas as they want me to just give Night Raid and the Revolutionary Army some hope and of course there are those people who send me amazing ideas for stories that unfortunately don't interest me due to either unfamiliarity with the franchise they want me to cross over or of course, the simple fact that I may not care for all the series in question. While there have been nitpickers and the occasional comment by that one guy who believes that Esdeath will betray Kylo Ren, just the fact that they have been giving this story a chance and for the most part seem to be enjoying the little twists and turns makes me incredibly happy, especially when it comes to things such as the reveal of the true heritage of Akame and Kurome.**

 **However whereas several people supported this decision, I feel that in the case of this, there might be a split down the middle for the crowds with one side who likes the idea and feels that it does add a degree of shock to the fic and those who are confused and possibly even ridiculously opposed to it, often mentioning that it's a convoluted mess. There is also always the middle ground that is just kind of indifferent to it and that in their eyes, it is my story so I can do what I wish regardless of their personal taste and in the case of the plot twist last time around, I was legitimately surprised to see people support this decision when I thought there was going to be no support, that really helped my self-esteem and it made me excited to do more. Here as I mentioned earlier, the split down the middle is going to be inevitable.  
**

 **Oh boy do I feel there are people I probably will either piss off or confuse here. While I know that the split is pretty much inevitable as in the case of all crossovers with concepts such as the ones presented here, I do feel that at the very least I should try to soften the blow with a bit more explanation as to what my plan is... while at the same time keeping the parts I want hidden, well, hidden. So without further ado, let's talk the scene that everyone has probably expected due to the cover and that is of course that scene involving Tatsumi and Kylo Ren which led to the boy's fall to the Dark Side.**

 **Where do I even begin with this? Well I guess to start us off, let me just say that out of all the ideas I've had for this story, this was one that always stuck to me as one of the most interesting plot-points that could be introduced for not just this but for any possible sequels that could come up... with reason. Why do I say with reason? Well let me just say that one of my biggest pet peeves with Star Wars fanfics out there that have a character turn to the Dark Side is that the reasoning behind it is just pathetic, especially when it comes to those like Luke Skywalker who in most stories that have it, seem to believe that all you need to turn a character to the Dark Side is for them to simply say "Fuck it, I want to be evil now." when that of course goes against everything that character may stand for and simultaneously ignores the fact that the reasoning people have for going to the Dark Side is actually a lot more complicated than that and in this case, I felt that Tatsumi did have a reason for why he could turn.  
**

 **You see, back when I was first working on this story, I was watching Akame ga Kill! as it came on Toonami and one of the biggest parallels I ended up drawing between it and Star Wars was between Tatsumi and Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Of course the appearance similarities I took note of but really, what caught my eye was their histories. Both were fairly young men who had aspirations of joining up with a group so that they may help out their friends and family, promising someone very close to them that they will return and see each other again. Unfortunately this doesn't happen and they do discover those people but in a state where there is absolutely no way for them to survive which leads to them both being dragged into a massive war that is just too great for them alone and it's here where they find out that the heroes in this world can also be considered the villains in some respect due to what they do. There is also a little bit of Luke in Tatsumi as well but he really does draw from Anakin the most as he is a guy who does want to do good but he definitely has this deep-seated rage inside after his friends were killed and when I drew that comparison, I found myself being more intrigued in how Tatsumi's development could've gone as the story didn't do that much with him with every interesting possibility being rejected so quickly and as much as I enjoyed this series, this was one of my many problems with it.**

 **Every argument that Tatsumi got into with Najenda about her supposed lack of care ended in like two seconds. Tatsumi was punched in the face by Bulat who told him to stop embarrassing himself and in response he simply gets back up and immediately understands that this is just what they do and that he should stop crying about it when the situation at the time combined with his friendship with the man and his experiences prior with the deaths of Sayo and Ieyasu should've actually done something to him. He visits the enemy base and sees that while there are people like Esdeath who are psychotic, there are legitimately good souls around such as Wave, Run, Bols and possibly Kurome who at the very least had a chance to be persuaded to leave and yet he doesn't try to do anything with that and in one of the biggest issues I've had with this anime for the longest of times now, Tatsumi seems to have NO conflict. He's not debating with himself over whether or not either side is good or bad, he just takes everything like a lapdog... and I wanted to fix that.**

 **Some people may say Tatsumi's a dick in this story and that him turning to the Dark Side further accentuates that fact but you see, the thing is that both in this story and in the anime and manga, the type of shit this guy has gone through is enough to leave him beaten down. He witnessed the death of his friends, Night Raid seems to be uncaring which leads to him remembering that he technically was forced into being a part of the group and finally there is the big issue I added in this fic where now, everything that Tatsumi was fighting for is completely gone and while yes you could say that this isn't in his character, I would also argue that since this is just a natural build-up of emotion for him as it was for Anakin Skywalker and more specifically, the way he was developed in BelatedMedia's rewrites of Revenge of the Sith and for those who don't know about that, I'd recommend watching the videos but if you really want a summary, basically what the guy suggested is that Anakin's turn should come from his ideals just crumbling down on top of him after Mace reveals that they will not grant him the rank of master as what they promised Qui-Gon was that they would train the boy but he never said anything about granting him the position of master which leaves him hurt and not wanting to talk with Obi-Wan and it's through a chain of events that he simply can't have this one chat to fix everything and overall it just keeps getting worse and worse... which sounds awfully familiar to my story doesn't it? But of course there is one difference and that is the fact that Tatsumi does on occasion have a conversation... but it's the wrong type of chat for the most part and with the wrong people.**

 **The guy already knows that of course Akame and Mine really do care for him as it was mentioned in my story that he did share moments with them that properly explained certain details about why they are the way they are in this group as shown when Tatsumi first snaps and says that one horrible line to Mine about Sheele, he realizes exactly how much he screwed up and ends up apologizing for it. In fact, the only person he has really insulted so far... is the commander of the group, Najenda and he has not apologized a single time to her as she has not apologized to him. Why is that you may ask? Well it's because quite frankly, Najenda is really, REALLY not providing the proper help that Tatsumi needs and that is some comfort and understanding and yes I know some people will ask about why the others don't provide that and it really all boils down to a few reasons.  
**

 **1) The situation right now is hectic as all hell. Not only is/was the Empire on the loose (at the time) but they have the First Order to deal with and needless to say when you have a massive army suddenly popping up out of nowhere tearing shit up with advanced equipment that have never been seen before at least by them, it's very likely the focus is more going to be on prepping for that threat and not really anything else.**

 **2) Akame and Mine are so far the only ones he truly trusts at the moment. He understands that Leone and Chelsea have lost friends before and that they could help but you see, they seem to be the closest to following Najenda's orders and as for Lubbock it's the exact same reason. Lubbock is one of Najenda's closest friends and earliest companions, he was the one who helped her escape for the love of God and while it's true that he doesn't support her decision in this story, the guy has already heard what they were saying in regards to the possibility of him being killed as he has become nothing but a liability and while he also has heard Lubbock oppose the decision, the guy really won't talk with him about it as he fears for it possibly straining his relationship with Night Raid even further as it's clear that it's not something he wants to go over.**

 **3) For the most part, what they say is still pretty much the same as Leone and the others. It's mainly about just focusing on the mission and not letting the deaths get to him which he has heard several times now and has gotten really sick of it... like another film-series that should be known.**

 **And yes I know the prequels are hated for making the Jedi to be these sterile monks that unfortunately do promote this message through poorly-written dialogue that fear and loss are both paths to the Dark Side when they're natural human emotions but of course, the intentions were very different and just ended up being poorly conveyed. In actuality what the Jedi were saying to Anakin is that letting these feelings swell up inside of him was a VERY bad idea since if he let them consume his being then of course it becomes a channel for the Dark Side to enter and in this case, it's very much the same way with Tatsumi while at the same time he's also being scolded for making stupid decisions such as running off on his own and facing off against Nines with only the most basic understanding of what the First Order is capable of through the news and even then... he only knows how they are in groups, not as single soldiers. Of course that's needed but the problem here is that essentially it might lead to a moment similar to what Belated described with how Uncle Owen reacted to Obi-Wan and Padme's little chat about Anakin following his "death" in his version which went as follows (Please bear in mind that this is not the exact piece of dialogue that Owen would've said but rather BelatedMedia's way of describing it):**

 **"Oh my God! Neither of you are fit to raise a child just look at what happened to Anakin. You with your politics and your ass-backwards wizardry, you drove him down this path of craving power because he didn't know what other path there was! Couldn't you see that he was just a man?"**

 **I mean really think about this for a second, he started out promising his friends he'd see them again, he discovers their mutilated corpses, he accepted the idea of fighting alongside an assassin group like Night Raid, he later finds that they aren't really heroes and seem to only care about the mission of destroying the Empire and finally which is what causes everything to blow up completely, Tatsumi's entire purpose for nearly joining the Empire was to gain the money necessary to help his village... and you know what happens to it in this story and before that, he faces even more shit due to him losing more friends in the form of Sheele and Bulat and all that was told to him is that he needed to put that drive into stopping the Empire and that he should stop lingering on the past which while it did lead to him reworking his tactics so that he could become the fighter the Revolutionary Army needed, it also led him down this path of really craving a way to end all the corruption since so far what Night Raid seems to be doing isn't working and with what they were doing, it was driving a wedge between the group and the boy.**

 **And when combined with the fact that he couldn't beat either Nines or Kylo Ren (the latter of which he ended up losing to twice in a physical and mental confrontation.), the very killers of his family and purpose for fighting. We see that this boy, this kindhearted soul who aspired to help drive the world towards a direction of peace and become a hero to his village is just torn down and with all the factors that led into this decision, he was unknowingly led into believing that the Dark Side was necessary to actually achieve this peace. But even then that doesn't mean Tatsumi is full on evil, I think I do need to clear this up right now that he's not going to be this massive dick who just hates everything and everyone all for the sake of being a dick. Rather he simply has lost his way, he is completely shattered and overall while there may be a chance for him to turn away from the Dark Side and redeem himself, he will never be the same person he once was.**

 **The same goes for Anakin Skywalker and as poorly constructed as the prequels can look, I feel that especially with the novel by Matthew Stover and the various EU material that came out expanding on his character, the reasoning he had for turning is understandable. He joined the Dark Side not because he wanted to cause utter mayhem or that he believed that the galaxy needed to have an evil Sith forcing people to bend at will but rather we see how a young man's ideas, hopes and dreams are just crushed. He dreamed about the Jedi as these wonderful peacekeepers who were able to solve any issue, through joining them he discovered that the Jedi Council was incredibly corrupt and hypocritical. He believed that he'd be able to save his mother and free the slaves, he found out his mother was killed and that she was somewhat destined to die if his nightmares are to be taken as visions of the future. Finally the one who he considered his best friend, the one who trained him Obi-Wan Kenobi who I believe at the time of Revenge of the Sith actually sat with the rest of the council was with the people who didn't grant him the rank of master and when combined with Palpatine's words, it all culminated in the final confrontation with Mace Windu who was ready to kill the Dark Lord of the Sith and not at all give him a fair trial and considering that the Jedi had stressed they were all about this as well as his conflict regarding his wife and kids after Palpatine told him the story of Plagueis, this was the moment when Anakin felt that his view of the Jedi was completely shattered and that if he was to truthfully save the galaxy, turning to the Dark Side was a necessary evil... and it was through that the power corrupted him and with the man now giving into all his emotions, it left him this unbelievably powerful warrior.**

 **Remember when Anakin and Padme were talking on Mustafar and how he was completely opposed to talking about Obi-Wan and once he showed up, he immediately rejected his wife's words? That's an example of the type of man that he had become then. No longer was he about following the Jedi Code or reason, he had completely given that up in favor satiating his lust for power and due to him again, now believing that the Jedi are the true enemy with the only way to obtain peace being to force the galaxy to submit and take action and in the case of that scene which despite the not exactly spectacular dialogue was one of my favorites, we see a major contrast from how Anakin was when he first started out as this bright, wide-eyed boy who had a massive weight on his shoulders that came with being the chosen one who later became a war-hero and eventually had let all the darkness swell up inside until it consumed him. Back when he first met back up with Padme we see them embracing and loving one another and at the end, we see him become the cause of her demise and exactly what happens when one lets the Dark Side consume their very being.  
**

 **It's also why I get sick of seeing people who think that turning to the Dark Side automatically makes you this stubborn asshole who just wants power since if anything, not all people who do this are inherently evil. There are plenty of Sith out there whose backstories suggest that when they made that choice, their intentions were actually in the right place and in some cases, they did have some decent morality. Darth Malgus for example didn't like the infighting and racism of the Sith Empire, Darth Gravid actually implemented Light Side teachings, some turned as they believed that if the Jedi wasn't going to do anything then they had to take matters into their own hands and finally there are those who legitimately fell to the Dark Side because of a moment of weakness that caused them to believe that these darker powers were what needed to be used.**

 **And in the case of Tatsumi's turn, it's based around the last two and he has sort of the mentality of Malgus. He absolutely hates the corruption that went on in the Empire but also believed that Night Raid just wasn't doing enough about it and after being psychologically broken by Kylo Ren's mental torture as well as being told about how Vader made his turn (which Kylo saw when he started meditating with his helmet.), Tatsumi is led to believe that if he wants to really protect the ones he loves that this is a necessary evil, that it's either he makes this tough choice or he dies with nothing accomplished.**

 **And that's why I made this decision.**

 **It's not because I wanted to just make a character evil for the sake of being evil and trust me. The very first idea that sparked everything originally didn't have anything like this occurring but the more I thought about it, the more I felt that this made sense and that it was an interesting plot twist to throw in. Also just in case some people think this, no this does not mean Tatsumi is open to being with Esdeath now nor does this mean he is friendly with Kylo. The best way I can describe this relationship is basically that this is what would happen if Starkiller at the end of TFU II actually did join back up with Vader during that one moment at the end of the game which I always imagine would be a case where Starkiller absolutely hates what Vader did but would have to swallow that down in order to protect those he cares for.  
**


	28. Chapter 28

( _Finalizer_ )

"I'll allow you to take me as your apprentice, Kylo Ren." An exceptionally violent explosion of emotions had occurred from within Tatsumi as soon as he had said those last few words, leaving his mind in a complete state of disarray. Granted, most decisions weren't made after a mass murderer had spent a good portion of their time picking apart your mind, tearing into your deepest concerns and all your fears like a hungry wolf who had just discovered an entire buffet of prey but even so, it was almost as if when he had said those words that he wasn't even in control. As if his mouth was moving while his mind tried to take a well-deserved rest after what felt like an eternity of anguish and torment only to then have the very person it was in control of rudely wake it with a decision so incredibly brash and so very soon after he had said those words, suddenly his tune changed and he asked his new master if he could have some time to himself which he thankfully permitted and with that, he rushed outside the room, his excitement quickly dissipating with every step he took.

Outside as Tatsumi roamed the halls of the massive spacecraft, trying his best to familiarize itself with all possible locations and marveling at the sheer scope of it, most troopers who passed him saw a boy who looked fine if a little disheveled which they mostly chalked up to just the fact that he has had his world completely flipped upside down and was instead thrust into this radically different and larger world and without any time to prepare. Some made their expected fair share of snide remarks about his state but on the flip-side? Others were surprisingly sympathetic about his condition, mostly because it merely reminded them of their first experiences being thrown onto the Finalizer and having a blaster shoved into their mitts. At the very least with that, he felt a little better.

Or at least, he would if the voices in his head had stopped screaming for just a few minutes. While externally, Tatsumi appeared to be mostly okay? Internally, his mind was engaged in full-on warfare with every part of his conscience screaming at the top of their nonexistent lungs about what had just happened and how there were literally HUNDREDS of ways this could've gone which when put in conjunction with how everything was going as of late? If he wasn't being driven mad before, he certainly was feeling the creeping sensations of insanity now and if it wasn't for the fact that he had spotted a restroom finally in his peripheral vision? There was the very real possiblity that troopers would've seen him go from being slightly disheveled to a foaming and raving lunatic. As soon as he entered that room, he headed to the sink and without any warning or protest, voided the contents of his stomach into it. Luckily for him, there was no one around to hear or witness this disgusting display of a teenage boy, gripping one of their cleansing devices in an attempt to steady himself, staining it with his filth. As soon as he had finished, he began to pant heavily. The release, as expected, had left him drained with his knees threatening to give at any moment and send him tumbling to the ground all the while strange sensations coursed through his body. It wasn't pain of any type nor was it confusion. It wasn't even the expected chill up his spine. He didn't know what to make of it but before he could question it, he then felt fear beginning to engulf him as soon as he thought about looking into the mirror, the thought coming with a faint hushed tone that he could barely make out, the only detail he could pick out being that it sounded aged. He remained still for a few more seconds, his mind set on trying to decipher the voice and decide if it was either the calming tone of Yoda or that almost demonic presence that had entered his being during his duel with Kylo Ren and if he even wanted to hear either of them. Unfortunately for him, fate seemed to have other plans for he was so locked in his thoughts, he ended up taking a passing glance at the mirror and found himself nearly jumping out of his skin at the sight of his best friend Akame, glaring at him through that reflective structure.

"How could you?" Akame questioned, her voice sounding conflicted. Dazed, Tatsumi could do nothing but rub his eyes and mumble.

"Akame, wha-"

"We had a deal! You were going to help us bring down the Empire!" She yelled. "You were going to help us usher in a new age of peace!" Memories of his initial meeting with Night Raid came rushing back to him right away. How he had came to agree to their arrangements and would provide his utmost attention in taking down every aspect of this corrupt and miserable hellhole that was somehow called a government, the same one that had left him with the "lovely" sight of his friends' brutally mangled corpses dangling in that barn. He remembered all of that and with every word Akame spat out, he couldn't help but feel at least a tiny bit guilty for how things have gone, how he had chosen this path instead of staying behind. In spite of this, he managed to regain his composure for a few moments. After all, he had voices ringing in his head before, what's a few more going to do?

"Akame take it easy, I know you're in shock but trust me. I'm doing what's best for y-"

"You call joining a mass murderer doing what's best?!" Immediately the boy's eyes darted to his left to see another familiar face emerge, his first glimpse being a set of long pink pigtails.

"No, yes, mayb-"

"Have you forgotten what this guy did?!" Mine angrily shouted. "The pain he caused you, the display he left at your village. Have you just forgotten that?!" Instinctively, Tatsumi felt his grip on the sink tighten. Even though it had been a little ways since then? Not a single trace of the hurt, tension, hatred and sadness of that event had ever left him. Even with full knowledge of what he said to Kylo Ren, as soon as that was brought up, he felt the temptation to kick down the door, steal a weapon off a trooper and charge towards the psycho with full intentions to end his existence which was now showing through his voice which had dropped into a deeper, much more grave tone.

"What do you think?" He questioned, his voice almost going into a small snarl towards the end. "I mean I wouldn't even be here right now if it wasn't for the fact that happened. Had the First Order never come here? I would've been back there with you, fighting to the very end."

"And yet you could've still done that if you didn't just charge Kylo Ren like a typical meathead."

"Oh, like you wouldn't do the same if faced with your family's killer." Tatsumi snapped back, his voice showing more hints of fury.

"Maybe so but I sure as hell wouldn't have joined him. I wouldn't have just signed my life away like I was a servant to the devil." Tatsumi froze, memories of his heated confrontations with Najenda echoing through his mind with each beat perfectly aligning to both what was going on right now and what Kylo ended up showing him in those twisted visions. A few seconds later when he opened his mouth again, his tone and body language became rather uncharacteristically cold and lifeless.

"I signed myself to no one." Instead of the expected angry reply, Mine just sighed though what Tatsumi didn't expect was that what was said after that didn't match her usual way of speaking one bit.

"What every youth says, that is." Startled by both the sudden change and the recognition of that speech pattern, Tatsumi watched as "Mine's" form and voice began to completely shift. "Their heart, despite everything it may be telling them. Afraid to admit, they are, when they are wrong." In response to seeing his friend shift into the sight of the little green man, Tatsumi knew he should've been feeling a sense of comfort or at least a hint of warmth. After all, from what he could gather during the few times they talked, Yoda seemed to be his closest and only chance he could get to at least trying to make sense of what was going on and unlike the people he was dealing with at the time, he seemed to be far more calm, gentle and understanding compared to the other members of his team and especially the other Jedi. It was that last part however that wouldn't leave his mind. It was partially thanks to that last part that he instead felt as his anger and confusion grew upon seeing the elderly master.

"How could you say that?" Tatsumi questioned. "Even after all that I saw, how could you just stand there and tell me that?"

"Committed by the Jedi, misdeeds were." Yoda said with a sigh. "Admit to them, I do. However, Kylo Ren showed you half the truth or at least, he fed you a half that he knew would drive your next decision."

"Half the truth? What the hell do you mean? I mean you just admitted yourself that what I saw was fact and yet now you're trying to tell me that he lied?!"

"Calm yourself, young one. Say he lied, I did not. However, what I am trying to say is that he merely only showed you that truth from a certain point of view. A truth that was presented out of order. All for the intent of tearing your mind apart it was. If you knew the full story? Changed, your mind would b-"

"Then tell me that story." Tatsumi interjected. "Better yet, do what Ren did and show me what I missed, show me exactly what I've been missing." In response, Yoda remained silent, his grasp on his cane only slightly tightening as he proceeded to lower his head towards the ground, his intent being to signal to Tatsumi the answer. Luckily for him he got it which led to the inevitable question. "Why can't you?"

"Tatsumi, have enough energy to speak to you, I may but not only would your request require the kind of time we don't have?" Right then he let out a sigh as he looked up towards the boy. "Meddle with your mind, I cannot." Taken aback by this, his tone then raised.

"You can't? What do you mean you can't?" He questioned excitedly. "Apparently you can just be an unwanted guest in my head and spout some pseudo-intellectual backwards talk and be a part of the reason for why I'm going batty but the moment someone asks you to actually back up what you're saying after seeing what another user of this mystical energy is capable of? NOW you're gonna pull the whole 'That's beyond my power/against the rules' crap?!"

"Pains me to say it does." Yoda said, his composure unwavering as ever. "But it's true. Tatsumi, already, felt the effects of this kind of ability, you have. Even if I could, grave would be the effects on your psy-"

"In case you haven't noticed? My mental state has ALREADY deteriorating for these past few days thanks to you space wizards thinking my head's a nice place to shack up in." Tatsumi interjected. "In fact, even before that time it has been crumbling to pieces so you can just spare me the pretentious babble about that." Right then and there, Yoda couldn't help but feel shaken by this burst of anger, the thoughts of a young Skywalker right then and there starting to come to mind but right as he was about to pull from his experiences with that as well as his years worth of experience training younglings, Tatsumi took his chance and pushed right on through.

"From the very first day I stepped foot into the Capital my life has been a living hell! I lost my two best friends to someone I thought was just a friendly citizen taking me in after a member of a team I'd join stole my money. I was forced into an assassin group because if I didn't? I would've been killed due to what I saw of them and even then? I was forced to slaughter people and I'm not just talking about faceless drones here. I'm talking living, breathing, THINKING individuals, some of whom were clearly just doing this because they thought they were doing the right thing. I lost even more friends of mine and after that? I lost my family, my ENTIRE village was burned to the ground! You know what it's like to come back to your birthplace only to find it torn asunder with every person you once knew being reduced to nothing but shriveled corpses?! Was there ever a single point in your hundreds of years that you actually saw that?!"

"Tatsumi please." Yoda managed to get out. "Know you're angry, I do. Understand your pain, I d-"

"I don't think you even do." Tatsumi began. "I especially don't think you know what it's like to hear those you once thought to be friends actually conspiring to kill you." Yoda froze with shock, his face soon twisting into a pained expression right as in his head, the sounds of Gree's footsteps coupled with a blaster being cocked played back in his mind. Unfortunately for him, Tatsumi didn't even notice this or if he did? He really didn't seem to care for he then continued. "And it's all because I wouldn't fall in line, I wouldn't obey their every word and be their slave like I did all those other times. Aside from Mine and Akame, they have seen me as nothing more than a puppet, a means to an end and it's only now that I'm smart enough to actually see th-"

"And yet you think joining the First Order will be something different?" Tatsumi turned to Yoda's right only to see no one though his mind recognized that as the voice of Akame. Right then and there, he felt a violent throbbing within his head which caused him to pull away from the sink, his hands then rushing to grasp his dome. "You really think pairing with your family's killer is going to solve anything?"

"I'm not pairing with them. I'm just trying to-"

"Trying to what?" Mine's voice interjected. "Trying to throw away the only other family you've had?"

"That's not... That's not tr-" As Tatsumi backed away from the sink, the throbbing in his head went from being violent to being nearly unbearable in the span of a few seconds which caused his fingers to dig even deeper into his hair as he lost focus with the world becoming nothing more than a blur all around him.

"You admitted we were the only ones to see you as being a person." said Akame. "If you know that? Why would you throw us out?"

"I didn't do such a thing!" Tatsumi said right as he dropped to his knees, his head now feeling as if at any moment some giant creature would spring forth, killing him in the process.

"You really think this is going to help you?" Mine and Akame asked in unison.

"I don't know!" His fingers dug deeper into his scalp, his gloves being the only thing that were keeping his nails from cutting into his flesh. What they couldn't keep out though was the horrific and incredibly unpleasant of metal twisting and contorting, the source of which his current state kept him from even attempting to discover.

"Why would you leave millions to die?", "Why would you do this?". All these questions and far more were spinning through Tatsumi's mind and would continue to come through at shorter and shorter intervals until eventually, it was all playing at the same time which when coupled with the screech of contorting metal was helping to make his mind into an unproductive and blithering mess which he couldn't even begin to make out with any reply he could've given being left unsaid. As the sounds continued to raise in volume, he shut his eyes tight, he felt his muscles twitch, his pores were dripping with sweat, his grip was so tight that if he quickly pulled away, he would end up tearing every bit of his hair out in one go. Internally, he was pleading, begging for the noises to stop and leave him be. After all, he just made the decision and even so, it was one he made unconsciously and to add onto that? He was just a teenager still trying to find his way in life. Back then, he couldn't have POSSIBLY imagined that his current path would lead him to meeting up with a bunch of space fascists, let alone agreeing to work with their leader, the same man who murdered his family and burned his village to the ground. For all he knew? He could've end up a hero and could've made his village wealthy, healthy and proud. In fact, that was his whole reason for even considering the idea of joining up with Night Raid in the first place outside of the fact he was forced to and how corrupted he saw the Empire was but he couldn't and didn't ask for that and he especially didn't ask to be in the custody of someone like Kylo Ren and to have all these voices in his mind, speaking about how either he's the great descendant of some random Jedi warrior or some backwards talk about how fear leads to anger and how that can lead to suffering. He asked for none of this, he wanted none of this.

And it was right then where this time? He was going to make damn sure that those voices knew this.

"SHUT! UP!" Tatsumi roared, that word being the only way one really could describe it for what came out of Tatsumi's mouth wasn't his own voice screaming a stream of profanity or letting out a simple cry but rather, it was a feral, unrecognizable and blood-curdling roar. One that was fiercer than a lion and even more unnatural than a Danger Beast's and was so loud that those who were nearby could not only hear it, they also felt it. Troopers outside the room halted their daily patrols, workers halted their routines, everyone who was near that door stopped right as they felt it both in the level of hatred that was presented but also, they felt the raw, untamed energy within him finally being unleashed.

The metal door and part of the wall to the lavatory burst outward, sending metal shards and any surrounding droids and debris flying outward with some of those materials winding up cutting into the uncovered points of some troopers' armor though they knew that compared to their tiny cuts? There were others who suffered through far worse. For some of those that were standing a good distance away, they found themselves flung against the walls, the force of which caused machinery to spark and whine as well as bones to shatter. Some troopers hit the wall so violently that their necks snapped with their now lifeless body falling limp moments afterward but even so, that was hardly even a talking point when considering what happened to the troopers who were unfortunate to be a few feet away from the source of the commotion. The burst of Force energy broke through the walls and collided with the body at not only an incredible force equivalent to being hit head-on by a crashing starfighter but it caught onlookers off-guard by displaying heat at levels that reminded them of rumors of how Vader once genetically engineered a Force-user so strong, their use of Force Repulse could incinerate troopers completely for once the bodies dropped to the ground with the alarms now starting to blare, they rushed to the bodies closest to the carnage and were about to remove the helmets when the smell of charred flesh right then hit their nostrils, signaling to them that underneath that suit was not a body they could recognize. However, there was no time to mourn the loss of their fellow men. There never was time in the First Order for immediately after this, the surviving troopers along with several more swarmed the restroom with blasters and batons powered on and ready to strike the Force-sensitive insurgent.

Only to then lower them at the sight of a brown-haired boy, the one that Kylo Ren said was Tatsumi, on his knees, breathing heavily with tears starting to run down his cheek which didn't even REMOTELY fit what they heard and/or saw a few moments before. Thinking back to what they remembered looking into when it came to those rumors about that clone which they believed was codenamed Starkiller, the troopers who apparently investigated that mess were met with a rage-fueled young male locking onto them with disturbing accuracy and proceeding to rip them limb from limb with the Force. This was the complete opposite of that.

"Should we take care of it?" A trooper finally asked, breaking the silence. In response, one of the officers who had rushed to the scene simply looked down at the boy, perplexed by the question. If this was a normal case of mutiny where someone went on a murder spree or if it was just a case of someone snapping and breaking down under the pressure? They would've issued the order to execute him without a second thought. However, because this was Kylo Ren's boy and apparently his new apprentice, they knew if they dealt with him without getting the proper clearance, even if they'd end up safer? That would most likely result in Ren having their heads but even so, what was stopping this boy from having an outburst this violent again? Thankfully, they didn't have to linger on that question for much longer for a few seconds later, a trooper ran up to him.

"Sir, it's Commander Ren." Without a second thought, he grabbed the communicator and glided his thumb over the button, the familiar hooded hologram soon appeared in front of him.

"Commander Ren." The man began. "What a surprise to see you contacting me."

"I felt a burst of energy from within the ship and the alarms are blaring, you should expect contact after something like that." Ren said sternly. Before the officer could speak, he immediately cut in with another sentence. "You better not have done anything to my apprentice."

"With all due respect Commander, If what I'm seeing is real? I think your apprentice has done enough to themselves with how they're currently bawling their eyes out."

"Is he fine?" He coldly asked, his tone clearly telling the officer that if he doesn't give an answer soon, he will have his head.

"Yes he is. I haven't had the troops do anything." After letting out a sigh of relief, Ren continued on.

"Have the troops take him to me," Ren ordered. "I didn't want to begin it so soon but it's clear I need to start training right away." The officer's eyes blinked open with surprise

"Training?"

"Is there something wrong?" Ren asked, his voice curious and also full of frustration.

"Well actually, yes, yes there is something wrong. If he somehow manages to have another outburst like this and in the right place? The raw Force energy could risk critically damaging the ship! He's a liabilit-" Before he could finish, the officer's eyes abruptly bulged and his free hand went to his throat as he began to turn a disconcerting shade of blue, all the while Ren's voice dropped to a much more frightening tone.

"Which is why I'm beginning the training now, the Force energy he's displaying is far more raw and untamed than I could've imagined. Even more so than what was initially expected." Right as he started his next sentence, Ren's voice shifted again, his tone now conveying just how serious this situation was. "So unless you want me to leave you as human debris that's being jettisoned out the airlock? You are going to bring him to me right now. Do I make myself clear officer?" As best as he could, the man nodded his head. Feeling satisfied, Kylo cut the transmission, leaving the man to slump to the floor with his hands then clutching his throat. Thankfully for him, the troopers decided to take matters into their own hands and they carefully picked Tatsumi up off the ground and proceeded to lead him out the open space right as repair crews started rushing in and although they had their own thoughts on how this situation could've gone? It really wasn't worth expressing if it meant you'd end up as being human debris.

* * *

( _First Order Transport Shuttle_ )

"How could you be so careless?!" Phasma yelled out angrily all the while pacing back and forth. "I gave you one order and while I should've expected a lesser trooper would fail this. Not only did I never expect FN-2199 that you would be the one to fail me but that you'd resort to something so unsanitary, so inappropriate and juvenile at such a heated time!" In response to all the anger that his captain was giving hm, Nines simply let his head sag as guilt overtook his being. To him, Phasma was absolutely right. He should've known better. He should've had a far better sense of control than he did a few moments earlier, especially since in all the years of his life, there was not a SINGLE moment where his hormones ended up overtaking him and unless it was a case where his squad failed him? There certainly wasn't a case where he failed Phasma to this fashion and left such an unsavory black mark on the Order's reputation and yet here he was now. Being chewed out for just that reason and like a good soldier? He was sitting there, listening carefully and taking it.

Too bad his partner couldn't do the same.

"Well what do you expect Pissma?" Mez began mockingly, her smirk unwavering. "I mean, if you like, expect to take a bunch of babies and raise them in such a sterile, boring-ass environment where they can't tame some of those primal urges? Something like this is bound to happen." Phasma froze and turned towards her.

"First off, I have had quite enough of your childish insults."

"Oh gee, I couldn't tell." Mez said sarcastically.

"Next, I don't think you should have the right to speak about how the Order is operated considering you have had not a SINGLE hint of experience in this group, especially when your idea would do nothing but greatly weaken us." Mez rolled her eyes.

"You know, all you had to say is that you'd give it some thought and then never bother with it. Also don't knock it until you try it. I'd bet if you had a nice thick cock up that snatch of yours? You'd be feeling so less uptight."

"Excuse me?" Phasma asked, her tone showing exasperation and anger. Without warning, Nines just took his hand and slammed it against the front of his helmet.

"You're not helping in the slightest Mez." He muttered under his breath with teeth grit. Unfortunately, she continued.

"In fact I bet the only reason you're upset is that as you were hearing that over the com-line, you felt a small puff of air move past that dusty crevice and were just wishing, dreaming about how that should've been you and are taking out all that repressed rage on us because no one's willing to deal with your bitchiness enough to give you that!" Feeling the rage boiling, Phasma then got in close.

"The reason I'm upset is that I have one of my best soldiers giving into instincts that in no way will help our cause and that instead of taking this like an adult. You're instead acting like a spoiled child who was caught with their hand in a container full of sweets and are making excuses!"

"Well if being a child means I'm me and I can have this much fun? I'd much prefer that than being an adult. In fact, I'll make sure me and Nines do this again! Hell, maybe I'll bring a camera and film a little show for you to get off to." Under her helmet, Phasma was as red as a beet. She had dealt with immature troopers before and those who she had to take down for insubordination but with Mez? Never had she dealt with someone this immature, this childish and so unfiltered. It was right then and there that she not only remembered why she pawned her off on Nines in the first place but now for the first time in her life? She was actually feeling a bit remorseful about it considering this was the level of hell she ended up unleashing on him. Of course, she could always reassign her to another trooper but then again? She realized that regardless of what trooper she would've given this gal to, NO ONE would've been able to get their job done with her around. With that in mind, finally her patience had run out, it was clear there was trash that the Order had left in. Filth that had no business in serving under them and needed to be cleaned out. As Mez continued to spout the most profane comments ever, Phasma pushed her cape to the side and Nines watched as her hand was nearing her blaster which caused him to tense. Then without warning and without a second thought, Nines jumped to the first option on his mind, turned to Mez and gave her a brutal backhand, catching both women off-guard.

"OW! WHAT THE FU-" Immediately Nines covered her mouth and while she was continuing to give her muffled rant, the trooper simply continued.

"Captain, to start off I'd just like to say that as someone who values my work and position. Like you, I am ashamed at my actions." Nines began, his voice full of remorse. "It was a moment of weakness, careless and most importantly, it was a moment of pure stupidity that easily could've been avoided. I take full responsibility for it, I'll make no excuses, it's something that should've never happened and if you don't mind me suggesting my punishment?" Realizing what he was about to say could be the death of him and probably will go down in history as one of the dumbest suggestions a trooper has ever made, he took a deep breath and quickly swallowed his pride right as he lowered his hand from Mez's mouth. "I want to have Mez permanently by my side." Phasma just stood and stared at her fellow soldier in silence, not having any idea on what to say and oddly enough? The same went for Mez who upon realizing what he said, just turned towards him with a look that screamed "Wait, what?". Granted considering what happened between them, she liked the idea of staying Nines even with his hardass attitude but she always got the impression that even so that more than likely he'd want to just find that opportunity to throw her out. The silence lasted for what felt like a good minute or two before finally, Phasma uttered a simple "As you wish." before heading off to where the pilots were, leaving the two together. With this in mind, as a little joke, Mez decided to extend her arm towards his chest which earned her an expected reaction.

"Don't even think about it." Nines said.

"Is that a way for a boyfriend to talk?" Mez replied to which Nines rolled his eyes.

"That's a way for a soldier to talk, especially when considering that I might as well have signed my will."

"Aren't we getting a little dramatic? After all, that's like, not the type of attention you were showing me back on the surface."

"You mean me giving into my urges like a hormone-addled fool? The type of action that could've resulted in us being killed."

"Hey, going out after a good fuck isn't so bad." Realizing with that line exactly what he got himself into, the pain he was surely going to endure with there being no way of taking this back, the trooper just buried his face into his hands right as the girl wrapped her arms around him and while he could feel deep inside that a part of him enjoyed it? He still let out a sigh of frustration for this was not only going to be a long ride but also a long, PAINFUL excuse for life.

* * *

 _Author's Addendum:_

 **Dear lord where to begin with this? To start off, I am really, so very incredibly, unbelievably and EXTREMELY sorry for how late this is. I mean how do I even still have a reader-base this point? Well, let me explain a few reasons why this happened. The first is that as an author? I hit burnout after 27. I think I was working too fast and too hard on these things which led to my brain being exhausted as well as pleading and BEGGING for me to take a break. Next off, I just lost interest in this story. I mean I love TFA but there's only so much you can do with just one film out before you feel yourself getting worn down and considering that after that one film a plethora of new info came out? That made me feel self-conscious about my own explanations. Finally? Life has just been hectic and I've been left with no time to do these. However, with TLJ now coming out with my hype thrusters set to overdrive? I now feel the drive to continue this story again. Especially since we only have a few more chapters to go before it all concludes. With that said? Thanks everyone for all the support, I'll see you next chapter and hopefully it won't come out at 6 in the morning.  
**


	29. Chapter 29

( _Imperial Capital_ )

"I have a bad feeling about this." Lubbock said after a moment's contemplation of the path ahead. Usually in situations like this, whoever would be paired with him would simply shake their head and let him know that everything was going to be just fine and that all their years of training has prepared them for moments exactly like the one he's worrying about.

However, with the way these events were progressing, signaled by faint inhuman screeches and vague shapes hovering high in the sky. Keeping composure became a challenge far beyond facing even an army of Danger Beasts. With that said? His partner, Mine knew deep down she had to try.

"Don't center on your anxiety." Mine began, wiping sweat from her brow. "After all, if the boss knew we would be in grave danger doing this? She would've kept us back at the base." Lubbock simply scoffed.

"If we were back in simpler times where all we had to worry about was the Empire, Danger Beasts and whore peddlers? The idea of a mission like this wouldn't have even come to mind." Unusually for the often sharp-witted warrior, Mine hesitated for deep down, she knew he was right for while there were infiltrations of the Capital conducted in the past? Not only was there not an extreme degree due to the knowledge that the grand majority of them possessed thanks to their upbringings but they usually had to do a good week or so of planning before the mission could be conducted due to the multiple ways in which everything could go south. With this however, the "discussions" were barely even a footnote and could be basically summed up as just a few minutes of rest followed by Najenda shoving into their hands used cloaks from previous bouts of infiltration and telling them quickly what to do before hurrying them out. It was so uncharacteristic of the usually levelheaded and iron-willed leader and also very demoralizing considering they did rely on her as a symbol of hope and motivation even in the darkest of times.

And after thinking about all that had happened recently, Mine couldn't help but feel that they needed that guidance now more than ever. When the First Order first touched down on this world and decimated Tatsumi's village, had she known about what was coming next? She would've been wishing that Najenda would've kept everyone back just to let them know they'd be fine, that she would be working far more on battle strategies and ways to minimize the severity of any future casualties. Hell, even though it was impossible and so far-fetched it sounds like something that would come from the mind of a child, she wished there was some way for her to have contact with armies from high above the stars, a way to control Danger Beasts, that she knew of some overpowered and ridiculous Imperial Arms or of a warrior like Kylo Ren and Esdeath who were strong in this so-called Force to help bring them down. She desired for something, ANYTHING that would help them in these dire times.

Unfortunately, it was whenever she went over these thoughts that she found herself grimacing and briefly clasping her chest as events were flying through her head, letting her know that the truth was unfortunately far darker than what she wanted and one that especially brought this about was the confrontation and subsequent breakdown of the former Jaeger Wave. In all fairness, she wasn't exactly the most innocent for throughout the majority of that discussion she kept Pumpkin completely centered on him. But even so, nothing could compare to what was going on with the other members for in spite of the heartfelt apology and the emotion that hung over that whole discussion, she couldn't help but think about just how accusatory and rash they were being to a man who clearly had no intention of starting anything and it was those thoughts that would then bring her back to a moment that caused her to not just clasp her chest but nearly let out a low growl of fury due to just how poorly the now unfortunately missing Tatsumi was being treated and what Lubbock told her in regards to what he had witnessed.

However, those thoughts had to be put on hold after they took a few more steps and a pair of familiar buildings came into view.

Like most cities that were clearly built off the backs of the frail and weak, the Imperial Capital was hardly what you'd call a barren wasteland. In fact, if one were to somehow separate the structure from the unsavory, cruel and ruthless empire that inhabited it, one could've actually taken a few moments to admire the simple but elegant architecture (some of which seeming to have lasted for years or even centuries), the pleasant amount of plants standing tall and proud in a healthy shade of green and a palace hanging overhead with colors that made it look so rich and inviting which could almost convince you it was ran by kindhearted nobility.

Of course, that was only if you could get past the sight of corpses strung up for all to see, the occasional horrific display of an innocent being mercilessly beaten by an armored soldier and finally, as Lubbock could gather from the moment he ended up just a few miles away, the screeches of ships flying overhead, the faint triangular shapes that were hovering in the sky and the red banners which were being dropped down on the main walls by a pair of what he assumed were the First Order's Stormtroopers though he freely admitted it was possible he could've been wrong for not only was his mission to examine all parts of the Capital, thus making the idea of staring at some random people in creepy white armor sound worthless. With Esdeath now being a part of the First Order and the tech being far greater than what they had seen before? He easily started theorizing about how quickly they had come to know their faces and was sure as hell not going to take any chances to see if these fears were ultimately unfounded which considering their pathetic disguises thanks to Najenda's oddly rushed command, was proving to be quite the difficult task.

A task that became damn near impossible once the two set foot in the area. If the image of the already corrupted, wretched hive of scum and villainy with an unrecognizable type of aircraft screeching overhead was already a very unnerving sight, the fact the very first step inside the area resulted in their nostrils being filled with the nauseating stench of burning corpses and caused them to shudder the moment their toes seemed to kick away what appeared to be bone. The streets were awash with the sounds of daily life in the Capital though both Lubbock and Mine with their faces twisting with a mixture of shock and disgust, would liken this more to the daily hell the Capital now lived in. The shuffle of foot traffic was now peppered with the shouts and clatter of frightened civilians rushing to hide, there was a monotone chant and prayer that was quickly silenced by both the hum of machinery and most disturbingly, the distorted voices of Stormtroopers which would be followed up by the echo of distant, sporadic blaster volleys. It was almost as if the two had stepped into a nightmare, one that with each step was becoming increasingly more difficult to ignore and if he had gone on for much longer just taking in this depraved and awful environment, he probably would've broken down.

But he quickly remembered, he was on a mission. That mission being given by Najenda and rushed order or not? He wasn't going to let a few disturbing sights get him down so he quickly pulled the hood over his head and started acting as casually as he could with Mine doing the same though there were a few times where this was tested.

"Requesting back-up immediately!" Mine's ears immediately perked up and in spite of every synapse of her brain screaming she shouldn't give into her curiosity? She looked over and in a moment where she guessed the universe decided it needed to hammer in the desperation. It just so happened that she turned to face the same alleyway that she went down with Tatsumi while they were out shopping but whereas that scene was filled with laughs over how Tatsumi saved a girl through the humiliation of her attackers and happiness over being able to save someone from the same pain she endured in her younger years? This scene was far, FAR more grim for those same men they humiliated were now attack another one of those Stormtroopers with the brown-haired one just going to town on him with his metal bat while his dark-haired companion decided to grab at his pistol and oddly enough, they were doing rather well or at least they were doing well for simple street rats. However, things quickly went to hell once she heard the firing of a weapon and she watched as the two men fell to the ground and once they fell, while it was a little hard to see? Mine could swear she saw two dark armored figures with green lenses lowering their now smoking weapons but before she could pay much more attention, Lubbock quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her along, almost as if he could sense her growing distress.

"As if the Capital couldn't become anymore of a hellhole." Lubbock whispered. "And to think this all happened in such a short span of time. Mine? What do you make of this?" No answer came which left him taken aback but then again, with all the commotion that has been going on and how he simply spoke in a whisper? Maybe she just didn't hear him. So he decided to turn towards her and speak up.

"Mine?" Nothing came but Lubbock dared to not press on once he saw her face twisted into a look of both surprise and anguish which was something he couldn't help but mentally admit was settling in too though he didn't do that with words, instead he simply let out a sigh and looked forward, his only other movement being to use his free hand to pull the cloak further over his head. In spite of all that had happened at this location, there was still a degree of nostalgia for it due to it being his home for the longest time and he still had the pleasure of knowing a good deal of decent human beings, most of whom were customers at his little bookstore and speaking of which. Things didn't exactly go too well once he merely glanced over that area and saw much to his horror a pair of Stormtroopers tearing through the location by chucking books out of windows, pushing giant shelves around and much to his horror and anger, his desk was completely overturned. Immediately his heart started racing, sweat started pouring down his face and his grip on Mine tightened. That location was not just the home of a hobby he greatly enjoyed but after seeing the huge mess? He knew it wouldn't be long before they ended up stumbling across the secret entrance they used for some of their most important meetings.

"T-Those bastards!" Lubbock mentally said as his free hand balled up into a fist. "What?! How?! Since when did they think they can just barge onto my property?! What purpose would it serve them?!" The green-haired warrior suddenly stopped in place which finally shook Mine back to the world of the living just long enough to see her partner unconsciously moving in a completely different direction. In the midst of the confusion, she quickly glanced at the location he was heading to and immediately started trying to shake him from this.

"Lubbock?" No answer came, the only action Lubbock performed was that his grip on her tightened and he continued forth. Not willing to give up so easily, Mine tried again, her voice now showing a bit more force.

"Wait." Along with that change in tone also came a small change in action for as soon as the word left her lips, the warrior had a two second pause which gave her just enough time to pull her hand away and immediately proceed to tightly wrap both sets of digits around his wrist and plant her feet into the ground or at least, she attempted that last part only to have it quickly fail as she instead found herself being dragged along.

"Lubbock, stick to the mission." She said through grit teeth, trying her best to retain some sense of composure. Thinking fast for her partner was still taking what appeared to be the walk to his death, the sniper started digging her nails into his flesh both in an effort to keep a tight grip and to illicit some kind of reaction. Unfortunately, even with the small red marks she could see forming, there was not a single hint of a change in reaction nor was there one for his course. Time seemed to slow as he continued his pursuit and in spite of Mine's continuous pleas and deliberate acts of minor physical harm to get him to turn his attention elsewhere, they were proving to be fruitless. At a certain point, she was even considering the possibility of just going on without him when suddenly, a firm static-riddled "Halt!" sounded off towards their right which shook him from his anger-fueled haze and it was then his eyes blinked to life once more and much to his surprise, he found himself far closer to the bookstore than he expected to be.

And he watched as a pair of Stormtroopers, one of which possessed a deep red shoulder pauldron, walked up towards him and showed in their body language a combination of confusion as well as unflinching fury. Realizing real quickly what the situation was, he... froze. There were no quips, not a single hint of wit, nothing was coming out and upon noticing that, Mine couldn't help but feel both more concerned and instead of the expected confusion? She understood why this was the case. After all, back then in spite of all the trouble that reconnaissance missions like this could've brought, it was fairly easy to make your way through a crowd unnoticed and if you were? A lot of the times they got lucky for the guards weren't exactly what you'd call strong in the mind. It was the very reason for why people like her, Leone and Lubbock were often given these tasks. Their wit, ability to think up sentences on the fly and in Leone's case, her looks made outsmarting the weak-minded guards a cakewalk. With this however, it was a completely different story. Compared to the Empire, the First Order had eyes in just about every area it could possibly put them in and unlike the guards? The troopers were very, VERY quick to respond for a few seconds after the pair came up to where they were inches away from their faces. She felt a small chill run down her back and when by instinct she turned to look, she saw three more troopers right behind her with blasters firmly nestled in their grasp.

Speaking of those few seconds, following those moments, the assassin opened his mouth but no words came. No matter how hard he tried, the sudden horror that piled up inside his throat like a clogged siphon quickly proved to be far too much. The troopers he faced cocked their heads and glanced at each other, their experience of dealing with young and painfully stupid citizens like this one making smart-ass remarks quickly proved to be worthless for this moment but just before Lubbock could think about taking advantage of the confusion and make a run for it? He heard the cocking of blasters and the approaching patter of footsteps.

"Are you the owner of this establishment?" The red pauldron wearing trooper questioned, their static radio chatter quickly unnerving the warrior to the point where all he could do was meekly nod.

"Come back tomorrow when our investigation is done. Sorry for the inconvenience." While he would've celebrated the fact that the soldiers thankfully didn't recognize him, the mention of one word caused his eyes to flash open.

"What?" His emotion unchanging, the trooper simply continued.

"We received word by the inhabitants that suggest this area is carrying information pertaining to a band of criminals known as the Revolutionary Army." In spite of the uncomfortable feeling he had at the pit of his stomach, Lubbock pushed on.

"S-Surely this is just some rumor started by someone who wants to get in the good graces of the Order."

"Maybe so." The other trooper called out, the voice being distinctly female. "But as we've found, there is still some truth hidden in rumors and it's a policy that we treat every report about potentially vital information as seriously as we can."

"B-B-But this is my property." The assassin began, his voice getting a little louder. "This is my job and I don't see any warra-"

"In situations like this we don't need a warrant." The male trooper said sternly. Right afterwards, the female trooper piped up again. "I'm sorry, sir. Entry is forbidden."

"Lubbock please." Mine whispered, her tone full of concern. "It's not worth i-" In a moment that was being driven more by emotion, the man quickly interjected.

"Unless I see some official documents, I'd hardly say that it's forbidden." He nearly barked. With their combat instincts now at the ready, the male trooper stepped a bit closer, his voice sounding disturbingly calm and serious.

"Leave here and just pray we don't find anything. What's the matter boy, are you afraid we'll find something you don't want us to see?" Both assassins and a trooper froze, each for different reasons of course but still, they did just that. "Because if that's the case? Let me break it down to you. You can either be smart about it, admit your guilt and hand yourself over." Right before he went to the next sentence, he took a quick glance at one of the troopers standing behind the pink-haired girl rummaging through one of their storage compartments and at each of his sides to see two others walking up to see what's going on. Smirking behind his mask at the possibility of this, the officer immediately gave hand gestures which the approaching soldiers followed without question and before Lubbock knew it, they were already inches away from him, thus causing the feeling of claustrophobia to strike.

"Or you can continue this little stunt and risk the possibility of you ending up as nothing more than charred remains in these streets, do I make myself clear?" As soon as that last word entered his ears, the assassin finally came back to reality and decided to take a deep breath and glance at the environment around him. He took in the blurred shapes of capital ships hovering overhead, the clattering of armor as troopers marched down the streets, the faint crunching of rock and the whirs of gears from the small machinery that stepped over it and most importantly. He took in all the despair, anguish and sadness that this city oozed with.

And it was right then and there that the reality of the situation, of everything had set itself in place. He may have already known about the First Order and with each meeting he had gained an understanding of what their presence meant for their lives and maybe even civilization itself but as the old piece of advice went.

There was a major difference between simply hearing of something and actually witnessing it and it was only through this experience that he had found himself finally understanding the true danger that this organization presented. It wasn't just a case of a third and/or fourth party coming in and providing a small hindrance for both armies that could easily be dealt with and it wasn't even a case of a slightly more supercharged Empire which just needed slightly more planning and careful executions to take down. This was the equivalent of a boot versus a small hapless snail with the figuring out of which one was which being very easy to conduct.

This was the first time that he felt utterly hopeless which the officer saw in the form of him shamefully looking down at his feet. Taking advantage of this, the man looked up to see what the fellow soldier had found. Upon realizing that the trooper was looking a little to his left, Mine immediately did the same and as soon as she did? Her eyes widened with shock as soon as she saw what it was.

It was a wanted poster which very distinctly had the exact likeness and name of the man she knew as Lubbock.

* * *

( _Night Raid HQ_ )

Even though he had officially poured his heart out to Night Raid, apologized for the unbelievable amount of agony the Empire caused them and shared a small personal moment with Najenda, Wave still felt incredibly uneasy and if one were to know what was going on and see his position? It wasn't hard to see why. Currently he was pacing back and forth right outside one of the bedrooms of the headquarters, his brow being firmly pinched by his right hand and his head was filled with nothing but what could be described as madness which of course was to be expected. After all, just a few moments before this, there was a MASSIVE battle that took place between Night Raid and key members of the First Order and the casualties suffered or at least, the casualties he saw were few but hardly what he'd call minor. The leader of Night Raid lost her Imperial Arms to Vitani Ren, two of his comrades from the Jaegers are either missing or they've possibly been killed, Tatsumi was now completely missing and due to the actions of Kylo Ren. Two people wound up seriously injured with one being simply a member of Night Raid who was thankfully reported to be stable and fine by Leone earlier and the other was someone far closer to his heart.

"Kurome, why? Why did you have to face him?" Wave mentally sounded off, that question having been present the moment he grabbed her. With all the time they spent where all they knew of the First Order was just that it existed and Run told him his guess on what was going on, it was very clear that regardless of if it was true that Kylo Ren was involved in some way. The arrival of this organization triggered something within Kurome. It seemed to reignite various memories that were long since dormant, the kind that one wished would be nothing more than just some random nightmare. Whatever it was? All he knew from that point on was that he'd dedicate the rest of his days to keeping her safe and as far from the First Order as humanly possible and at first, it seemed to be possible.

That was until that one moment, that single moment which continued to replay in his mind as he was pacing where in the seconds that followed his big hero moment where he punched the dark warrior away, he watched as Kurome completely lost consciousness which he remembered causing his heart to completely sink. The very promise he made was already broken and in such a short span of time. It was thanks to him not being able to get there faster or even just staying by her side the whole way through that he now found himself truly at risk of losing her.

"How could I be so stupid? So careless?" The barrage of internal berating sounded off. "I made a promise to you. A promise I'd keep you safe. I told you about my concerns!" Eventually one particular thought came to mind that caused him to become totally incensed. A moment that was so intimate, so personal and so sweet which was shared between them that he stopped pacing, turned to the wall near the doorway to Kurome's room, put his hands against it and without warning, he slammed his cranium against it. "You admitted your love and how did I repay that?! I was so stupid that I couldn't stay by your side! I was such a massive dumbass that I pursued my fight with Tatsumi instead of making sure you were safe and sound!" Enraged, the swordsman's fists balled up even more, his nails now digging into his flesh. A few seconds later, he brought his arm back and with a rage-filled growl, he struck the wall, the force of which caused a decent hairline crack to develop. However, he didn't exactly bother to see it as he kept his head held low which along with his expression, showed a degree of shame and anger.

Inside the room, a deeply concerned Akame sat in a chair by her younger sister's bed, her right hand lightly clasping her wrist while another rested at her thigh. She noted the hour on the clock with a sigh. While she wasn't expecting a speedy recovery, with all the bad news that was present in the world as of late, she yearned for the world to just give them a break. A spark of hope that would let her know like a gentle mother bandaging a wound that everything was going to be okay.

But with all that had happened? Even she was starting to have her doubts.

Thinking to all that had happened, she carefully shifted her gaze to one of the few windows and watched as life progressed. It was a sight that should've brought her solace. The trees were flowing gracefully in the wind as blue skies shimmered beautifully with birds and many other different types of wildlife simply living free and enjoying their time. These simple things had on many occasions beforehand, even after dealing with the most taxing of missions, brought her peace and a sense of comfort. It reminded her both of what she was fighting for and how life didn't have to always be about slaughtering a selected target. However, this time was different. This time instead of thinking about how peaceful the environment was and how one day there would be a time where it'd forever retain that peace? She couldn't help but think about how impossible that idea was increasingly becoming. Every little detail from the birds to the trees brought her a degree of sorrow. Even the wind in the moments she heard it sounded mournful, almost as a herald to what would eventually, inevitably, become of civilization with the First Order's prolonged stay.

Though she also couldn't help but think about what happened to her partner. In fact if it wasn't for what was going on with Kurome, Akame had already made it clear to herself that she would've, without question, grabbed her sword and charged out to find him, prepared even for the possibility of going to the ends of the Earth to find him but like even the very idea of a happy ending to this story. It was nothing more than a fantasy.

One painful, cruel fantasy.

* * *

 _Author's Addendum_ :

 **Let's just start with the most obvious considering the date. I saw The Last Jedi and I absolutely loved it. It moved the story forward, provided a lot of interesting twists and turns that I didn't expect and while it was flawed in areas? I think I have overall my new favorite Star Wars film though I will have to see it a second time before I totally confirm that.**

 **Anyways, for this chapter I decided to go for something that I had no idea on if whether or not it was going to work because with this being a fanfiction? There are elements that usually people don't expect. In this case, I'm going to be honest, as I was writing this out? The ideas for dialogue were just not coming to me. As I was writing this, there were multiple times where I just wrote dialogue and then removed it right afterwards because I felt it didn't work and while admittedly I could've delayed this to work out more dialogue? I decided "Fuck it, my audience are a bunch of mature grown adults and I'm an author so why don't I experiment a bit?" and thus I came up with this chapter which is a lot more I guess you can say event-based than it is dialogue. For this one? I really wanted to emphasize that the world is in deep shit with the First Order's arrival. After all, with this being a story in which the First Order are the main focus in some ways? I think it makes a lot of sense to finally show off what has been going on and really emphasize that feeling of hopelessness, particularly in the beginning parts of this where I decided to kind of partially base it on Episode 3 of Akame ga Kill when Tatsumi and Mine are out shopping. In fact, it's why I included those two guys that they met and humiliated to save a girl only to then twist it so that they were shot down by First Order Deathtroopers (Yes, Deathtroopers, like the ones you see in Rogue One.). It's also why I had one of the wanted posters brought in since honestly, I think the soldiers wouldn't be stupid and I also wanted to have Night Raid members make a genuine mistake to acknowledge a small complaint Lord Asmodeus had with the very first chapter where he mentioned that I seemed to be giving Night Raid plot armor.**

 **Of course I didn't really believe that to be the case but for this chapter? I decided to make that so. Fun fact, originally for this chapter I planned on the possibility of the two of them witnessing an execution only to have Seryu recognize the members of Night Raid which would lead to Hux (who'd have Honest's ring back in his possession after Kylo borrowed it.) disabling at least Lubbock and taking him under arrest. After some thinking however? I decided to make this plot-point while keeping Lubbock as the one who's under arrest. Would he be put up for execution? I don't think so or at least not yet. As for why the trooper only pulled out Lubbock's? It comes down to importance. Lubbock was one of the original defectors from the Empire and was the one who helped Najenda escape. With that in mind? They believe that it'd make the most sense to capture him and since he already decided to let his emotions take over? It made him easy pickings. As for Mine? Well I'm just going to say right now that I think they'd let her go. The reason for this is because the First Order in this story, regardless of how good it is? It suffers from a major flaw. In their efforts to rid themselves of the weakness the Galactic Empire had developed? They've become overly confident and arrogant with troopers occasionally doing their own thing because with the additional training that was done to make them better than the previous forces? Some troopers have their own idea on how to conduct missions. Basically it's introducing the idea of what happens when one takes improvement too far and if any of you have seen The Last Jedi yet or at least have been exposed to a good majority of Star Wars? You know what happens when it comes to overconfidence and arrogance.**

 **With that said guys, thank you all so much for reading. Next chapter I'll actually be focusing on some stuff on the other side of the galaxy and some other stuff down on Earth not with Night Raid but with a certain mask wearing, flamethrower-wielding but oddly kind beefcake. Again, thank you so much, may the Force be with you.**


	30. Chapter 30

_Several lightyears away..._

( _Jakku's Orbit_ )

For the next several minutes, it felt as if the battle with that destroyer was never going to end.

Of course, most soldiers who lived long enough would note that kind of feeling was present throughout the grand majority of battles that the Rebellion had taken part in and no one could exactly deny that. However, they also seemed to have forgotten that, for what it was worth, there was a period following that fateful battle on the forest moon where the Empire went from nearly impossible to deal with to being a tempered challenge that was marred by the effects of a conflicted leadership, meaning that simply planning ahead and preparing for the sporadic bursts of blaster fire and cases where the organization was clearly wasting resources became more than enough to take on the fractured regime.

There was a period where tense battle situations, despite still existing, were nowhere near as difficult to navigate and battle through. Of course, as the organization really should've come to expect by now, if they were to gain a victory? They should expect the inevitable failure that balanced it all out to be FAR worse. Far too many examples came to mind when this particular subject came up though the one veterans would come back to most frequently was the Empire's reaction to the Death Star's destruction. The invasion of Yavin IV was not too big since they knew full well that right after destroying the superweapon and having the quick celebration that they'd have to speed off the planet but as for everything that came afterwards such as the battle of Hoth and the capture of Captain Solo? Things went from bad to worse to nearly impossible.

Fast forward to today and that was where they were now. The infinitely more deadly First Order, an organization which the Solo family unfortunately was first introduced to on Yavin IV and the ones who managed to single-handedly wipe out the New Republic and their fleet thanks to the technological terror that was Starkiller Base were locked in vicious combat with one of their flagships and from what she could tell? They were out for blood and regardless of how much damage they inflicted? They were unrelenting. Hell, even when the saboteurs finally got in through the heat sink and started ripping the ship apart internally, the destroyer still wouldn't budge and instead pressed on with the assault.

And on the battlefield in front of them? It really showed. Especially when they saw a bright orange flash on a certain black X-Wing.

"Admiral this is Commander Dameron!" A slightly perturbed male voice called out. "I just lost one of my starboard engines! They're really not letting up!" In all the years the elder Mon Calamari has been in the service of the Rebellion, he had come to the decision that as soon as that happens, as soon as their best pilot starts taking some grievous damage during a drawn out battle. That was normally the first indicator that everything was about to go south. Immediately the Admiral pressed down on the small yellow button and shouted his command.

"Retreat back to the Home One immediately Poe!" Despite the fact they were quite a ways apart, the tone of Poe's voice made it to where the admiral could just feel his eyes widening.

"What? No way, we got this!" Poe sounded off. "Beebee Ate and I have been through worse. Ain't that right buddy?" Unexpectedly, the little orange and white astromech's response didn't consist of a series of confident beeps but rather it was a bunch of worried, high-pitched whines that if translated to the English language would appear as being something along the lines of "Doesn't mean I particularly like it and I think I trust the old man more than I trust you."

"Hey, let's hear some happy beeps. Remember we were a part of the team that destroyed Starkiller. That's gotta count for something right?" The droid gave off more beeps of disagreement.

"Hey I know it seemed hopeless at first but we still did it an-"

"My apologies for interrupting this friendly chat you have going but in case you have forgotten? General Organa is aboard this ship and if you're among the casualties of this fight? We're not exactly going to be put in the best of conditions!" Nothing but radio silence could be heard for a few seconds. Taking advantage of this, Ackbar took a quick breath for lying about Leia's presence wasn't exactly easy but he knew it would be a good motivator and he decided to give his order once more. "So Poe, once again I urge you and the rest of Rapier Squadron to fall back so that we can make a full retreat!"

"Sorry but I simply can't do that. It may be dangerous but when we're this close to winning? I think you can spare us a bit more time." Poe argued though the admiral's decision wasn't the least bit changed, evidenced by his audible grumbling.

"Commander Dameron, get back here now! Don't be another one of those blasted flyboys who thinks that everything can be solved by just blowing something up!"

"Kind of meaningless to point that out admiral considering we're in a situation that requires that very thing to happen." Poe retorted, his own will being as strong as the admiral's. "Anyways, considering we won't get anywhere by talking about it? I'm just gonna show you." Realizing what action this was possibly going to entail, the veteran's brow furrowed with disappoint and a bit of anger. He already had more than enough indignation to deal with when it had come to pilots such as Han Solo and literally hundreds of rookies before who he swore believed that all conflicts could be solved by just hopping into a ship, shooting like mad or engaging in excessively dangerous battle plans and to see that Poe, the ace pilot leader of Rapier Squadron, the one would eventually have to step out of those shoes and enter the boots of a leader for this struggling resistance was also engaging in the same behavior did nothing but bring up floods of old memories.

"Commander, if you disa-"

"Talk to you later Admiral." Poe interjected and with that response, he flicked his communications with the capital ship off and quickly turned to his partner. "Alright Beebee Ate, listen I'm gonna need you to go down and repair the engine, think you can do that?" Immediately a wave of unsure and concerned beeps sounded off. "Yes I know this is dangerous, I totally get what you're saying but don't worry. We've been in hairier situations and from my experience, so long as we work in a quick and efficient manner? We'll get out of this just fine." Despite the unwavering confidence and bravery in his voice, the astromech couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't going to end well and was about to sound off again until his memory banks flashed with moments just like this. With that in mind, he reluctantly agreed and lowered into the ship, rolling to the back to begin work on that engine. Once he saw his partner was at work, the pilot flipped a few switches and tried contacting the sabotage crew himself.

Speaking of the crew, currently the three members, one of which was a male Aqualish, the second was an older Duros and the third was a young human female with dark brown hair who were currently locked in a vicious firefight with First Order forces in one of the hallways. A series of blinding explosions ripped through the walkway ahead of them and each time the smoke cleared, more and more armored corpses made their appearance. However, as the Duros had found through memories of his days with the alliance and defectors from Imperial Special Forces, it could never be that easy for it seemed with every one or two troops they'd fry, there would be several more already speeding through.

"I'm getting far too old for this." The blue-skinned soldier sounded off with a sigh right as he cocked his blaster rifle. "At the rate we're going I'm surprised our capital hasn't been destroyed yet." With a quick grunt, the Aqualish unloaded a few pistol blasts which found some nice spots in the craniums of some troopers and before they fell, he quickly slapped the Duros and let out a few more groans.

"I know that." He replied, mildly annoyed. "But in case you haven't noticed Wrui? We're three saboteurs currently waging a small scale war with what feels like the whole damn military. We're not exactly in the right position to be having happy thoughts." The Aqualish groaned again, the response causing the Duros to pinch his brow. "Tell me, what do we look like then, an elite team of commandos? You ask me, compared to these guys we look far more like children playing pretend."

"Shriv, are you feeling okay?" The female asked. "You seem to be far more nervous than I expected."

"Zay, we're in one of the many hearts of this blasted regime." The Duros stated in a matter-of-fact manner. "It should be expected." In response, the gal couldn't help but chuckle.

"Man no wonder mom made it a point to state how much of a nervous wreck you can be."

"I prefer the term cautious thank you very much." Shriv replied right as one of his blasts collided with a trooper from far ahead, causing him to fly off the bridge and into the reactor below with a familiar scream that Stormtroopers seemed to let out from time to time. "Now, how much more do we ha-"

"Inferno Squad, come in!" Immediately Shriv stopped what he was doing and pulled back his sleeve to see the flashing communicator. "Inferno Squad do you read me?"

"Loud and clear commander." Shriv replied right as he ducked to avoid sparks from a blaster shot. "How is the battle progressing outside?" Unloading a few more shots, Shriv watched as the soldier upfront who was hit right in the kneecap stumbled backward into the Flametrooper right behind him, the force of which caused them to slip and fall right to their death with the regular trooper following very soon afterward.

"Some of us are reeling quite a bit out here. We took down the turbolasers but things haven't exactly been the greatest out here. As soon as they realized what we were doing? They unleashed the Interceptors and currently, one of my engines is being repaired."

"That doesn't sound good." Zay commented right as she flicked on a thermal detonator and tossed it far into the huge group of troopers right before sending a small yellow and white seeker droid towards the control panel in the doorway.

"Are you on your way back?" Shriv questioned right as the explosion went off, sending a whole bunch of troopers tumbling into the abyss below in a mess of cracked armor and weapons.

"Like hell I am. We just need to push a little bit harder and this whole cruiser will go down in smoke and when faced with an opportunity like that? There's no way I'm turning back now." The Duros' face immediately twisted into one full of concern.

"I was afraid you'd say that." A static-riddled chuckle sounded off soon after.

"What can I say, I prefer to see a plan through from beginning to end when there's a major chance for victory."

"Mind defining what your definition is for 'ma-" Before he could speak further, the soldier stood up at the sound of gears crunching and turning and quickly turned to the doorway they were intending to get through, the sight of which prompted his jaw to drop down and his eyes to widen. He watched as the bridge the troopers were running on began to retract and eventually split into two sections, causing multiple troopers to tumble to their deaths though a few did manage to make a well-timed jump and...

Most of them fell into the pit though two did manage to reach the doorway and with one ready to fire though he was quickly silenced by Zay unloading a blaster bolt right into his skull, causing his lifeless body to fall into the pit. As for the second soldier? They barely managed to reach the area and were hanging on for dear life but just as he was about to pull himself up? The white and yellow droid sent a quick shock through his panel and without warning, the door came down HARD on his arms with the scream of sheer agony that followed and trailed off causing Shriv to wince a bit.

"What was that?" Thanks to his experience, the Duros quickly regained his composure and was just about to speak when Zay immediately leaned in.

"Change of plans. We're going to split up." Immediately Shriv shook his head but before he could speak, Iden's daughter pushed on. "Wrui will work on taking out their general defenses, Shriv will focus on dealing with the bridge and I'll deal with their life support systems."

"Now wait just a moment, since when were you in cha-" Poe's chuckle cut off his complaints very quickly.

"It may be risky but it sounds like something I'd do. Inferno Squad, follow Zay's orders, make only the changes and improvisations you need to and this battle will be won."

"You say that as though you saw the future. Poe wait a mome-" Once again Shriv was cut off but instead of Poe, it was a series of faint droid beeps.

"Wait, you serious?" Poe's voice questioned. More beeps followed and right afterward, the voice shifted into something much more positive. "I knew you could do it buddy! Awesome job!" Finally he turned his attention back to the communicator, ignoring the droid's further response which came off as being less "You're welcome." and more like "Sometimes I seriously question why I even stay with you.".

"I just had my engine restored." Seeing his chance to talk, Shriv tried cutting in.

"That's great but can we ple-"

"Sorry my friend, I can't talk for much longer." The pilot interjected. "I never like talking during a moment of payback."

"Just wait a moment commander!" Before he could continue speaking, the Duros saw his communicator's blue light immediately fizzle out, signaling to him that Poe had ended the transmission which left him both annoyed and concerned. Granted he should've known through his experiences with the Zay's mother and the Resistance in general that there were plenty of soldiers who acted like this but nevertheless, he could never get over how reckless a lot of this sounded and often was when initiated. Quickly he turned his attention back to Zay who was currently starting to strip, causing him to freeze.

"What are you doing?" Shriv questioned.

"Simple," Began Zay as she slipped on a trooper's jumpsuit. "I'm blending in." The Duros shook his head.

"First you make a very reckless decision when I'm the one in command and now you're disguising yourself when according to the amount of bodies that line the floor we have already done enough to piss off possibly the entire crew."

"You heard the commander." She began as she started clicking armor pieces into place. "You need to listen to that command and make improvisations when you need to and well, I think disguising ourselves while the cameras are down is something that could benefit us." Right after seeing the Duros cross his arms, the young lady couldn't help but smirk as she slipped on the helmet. "And besides, wouldn't it be nice to have a break from being shot at?" The Duros stopped to think about this for a few moments. If they were doing this right in plain sight where just about everyone in the First Order could see them then it'd be a case where this mission would be going to hell in just a few moments. However, with that comment that the cameras were off and after considering how this had the possibility of going completely in the right direction as well as his previous missions? He couldn't help but smirk.

"You know what? I've been through crazier events with your mother." Shriv said with a chuckle. "Alright Zay, let's move out!"

 _Meanwhile, down on the surface..._

"Oh how I wish I didn't have to trudge through this infernal place." A mechanical voice whined. "Why a desert planet of all places? Oh as if I haven't had enough of having minerals in my circuits. This is such a despicable place!"

"I know Threepio." A certain general sounded off. "And trust me, the last thing I want to be doing right now is trudging through these dunes but while we're close to it? We have to see if at least one scavenger has the map.".

"Forgive me general but that much I've been aware of for a little while now but I don't know exactly what purpose this serves." In a moment of sarcasm inherited from her late husband, Leia turned to Threepio with a smirk.

"So you'd rather have Hux and the others resurface with hundreds of fresh troops? Threepio I know you'd sometimes hang around with Han but I didn't think you'd like the action." Stiffening up, Threepio's tone changed to where he ended up sounding a bit insulted.

"W-Why general, how would you get that impression?" The droid sounded off. "Captain Solo simply made me more frightened of warfare. I'm just hoping we're not entering into some unnecessary troubles for a map that ultimately is of no use." After chuckling for a bit, the general turned back to him.

"Not to worry, I understand your concerns." She began.

"I mean, I know you're worried about your daughters but they're far from here. Ren is more than likely in no position to track them through simply the Force and our focus is on restoring peace to this galaxy. Why should we concern ourselves with a map to a planet so far out?" Leia's tone and expression turned far more grave and although Threepio should've gotten the idea to maybe quiet down after seeing her slow to a crawl, he instead continued on.

"In fact, we should be working more towards tearing down Snoke and every other facet of the First Order. That way when the leadership returns? They'd have nothing to go back to, nothing to build upon which could lead to the victory the Resistance desires! Don't you understa-"

"You think I don't know that Threepio?" Leia barked, her body now facing the protocol droid who quickly jumped a bit.

"General I wasn't meaning t-"

"Meaning to what? Because judging from your whining, you'd prefer if I'd let some of the last members of my family die."

"T-That wasn't at all what I wa-"

"Threepio, you think I want to be flying out to some other planet and end up risking the life of the Resistance? Of course I don't, I'd never want to do that. The last thing I'd want for this galaxy is for it to have the life choked out of it by a monstrous oppressive regime."

"I-I can clearly se-"

"Hell, the very reason I started the Resistance was because I could tell that the First Order was going to be a terrible threat later on and instead of listening to the big wigs in the Republic write me off as some fanatic? I wanted to do something about it." Slowly, the protocol droid started backing away, his body language showing hints of fear and regret.

"And you've done a good j-"

"But this business is simply something I can't ignore. Threepio, these aren't just some scouts we are talking about nor is it an intentional misdirection that I'm about to undo. These are my daughters, my flesh and blood. Can you imagine what would happen to me if Ren stole them away and managed to turn them in the same way that Snoke turned him?" Despite the work this thought processors put into it, the protocol droid realized what Leia was insinuating. After all that she had lost over these past few years, the death and destruction that followed the Resistance in this wretched war, he thought that this just might become the very thing that broke her. With that in mind, Threepio was about to speak though in a strange turn of events? Leia was the one who kept on with the same subject instead of him.

"By that point, I'd have nothing." In response, the droid managed to barely cock his head right as he began cooking up a response to the general for while he understood her sadness? Needless to say she wasn't exactly correct.

"Are you sure you'd have nothing? I mean, he's still around." Immediately, Leia froze right as a huge lump entered her throat. She slowly looked down at the ground, her mind filling up with memories of a young man dressed in black with an arm wrapped around her, swinging away from Jabba's sail barge. With that, she let out a sigh.

She needed him and although Rey was currently away, seemingly training with him, there hadn't been much in the way of contact since she got there. There was no one else she could rely on. No one like her brother. No one else at all and now that the New Republic had completely collapsed and they were left a fractured force? His guidance was needed more than ever. With all the weight that had been thrust onto her shoulders, nothing would've made her happier than the sight of the Falcon coming to greet her with the hangar doors dropping down to showcase a proud Jedi warrior with faith completely restored and a desire to right all the wrongs in the galaxy.

All of this would've been far easier if she had help. The kind of help only her brother was capable of providing. If the idea of him helping wasn't already nothing more than a mere fantasy.

No. Surely not. There was no way that was true. If anything were to occur that would make this clear as being nothing more than some pathetic fantasy? She would have sensed something. She would've felt his presence becoming one with the Force, she would've sensed his resolve was to stay wherever he was. She was certain of that to be sure. With that thought in mind, a few moments later she thought of her brother's voice, a thought that was always comforting even in the face of the absolute worst case scenarios. His tone was not as harsh and direct as Han's nor was it as whiny as Threepio's. It was patient, calm, attentive, full of warmth and once the Empire fell and he started rebuilding the Jedi Order, it was full of wisdom.

The same kind that his master, Ben, showcased.

"The Force is strong in my family, my father has it, I have it. My sister has it." Right then and there, she couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine right as that memory finished. She remembered her thoughts that fateful day. How she swore she couldn't hear this. That he was lying and that she had no such power but it was when she stared into his eyes and saw how they were whirling with darkness.

And truth. It was a planet-shattering experience that left her breathless. The mere notion that she wasn't just a general but that she possessed the same power that the heroic Jedi of old had sounded like a bad joke at first and even though she realized it was true during that day? It wasn't until they had returned home and she had Ben that she truly understood the weight of those words and it was only further confirmed by... that day. That one horrible day where she could feel her husband's life being stolen away and the agony it left her heart in. Eventually, she closed her eyes tightly against those words and thoughts, against her tears. To no avail. It all washed over her, now, and through her, much like she did on Endor and regardless of how much he tried? Not even Threepio could shake her from this.

"Luke." Her mind sounded off with Threepio being left to do nothing more than to try and comfort her.

* * *

( _Ahch-To_ )

Far beyond most systems that various records had data on, resting rather nicely between two stars was a bright blue orb. On the surface, the color was very quickly explained for the planet was mostly ocean, dotted with a sprinkling of towering islands formed of black rock, the throats of volcanoes whose slopes had long since eroded away. Greenery caped the stony flanks, falling in emerald waves toward the azure sea. Above the calm waters, flying creatures soared on wide wings of translucent white. Towards the bottom of the island sat a ship most familiar to those in the business of smuggling, especially those who were under the leadership of the powerful Jabba which currently had a cavalcade of small, puffin-like creatures resting rather peacefully on top of it and in the cockpit, much to a certain groaning Wookiee's dismay.

As one traversed up the stone steps which were so old that grooves had been worn in the front edges by the tramp of thousands of footsteps. One would feel the humid air but if they turned? They'd catch glimpses of the many ruins that dotted the area which told a story that spanned for thousands of years and were currently being tended to by several members of the Lanai species who were trying their best to keep the ancient structures as clean as they could be. Once they reached the top, they'd either hear the faint hum of a swinging lightsaber or they'd hear nothing. In this case, if one were to enter one of the structures and turn, they'd see two faces. One belonged to a young, brown-haired girl who looked to be at least 19 in age wrapped in Jedi-like robes with a long, slightly rusted metal staff resting behind her along with her lightsaber which originally belonged to legendary Clone Wars hero Anakin Skywalker and his son. Sitting next to her in the same meditative position with legs crossed and hands resting down by the knees as she was was someone who had become that of a legend.

That figure was shrouded in a simple cloak and robe. His hair and beard were white, and his countenance was peaceful if slightly irritated which was presumably directed towards the presence of the girl who was next to him but it wasn't too notable. What was however was the twitch of his face once some deeply troubling thoughts entered his mind. An image of a familiar face that he had remembered saying goodbye to long ago. With her senses being just as attuned as his were, immediately the girl opened her eyes and turned to face the man.

"Master?" She said, her voice full of concern. No response came from the aged hero whose face instead continued to twitch and twist as those thoughts continued to pester him which was bringing about his worst fears. Once again, the girl tried.

"Master is something wrong?" Still no response came. The warrior then began to grip his pants, his metal hand now proceeding to dig a bit into his flesh as flashes of horrible things to come started entering his mind. Quickly, the young one decided to drop trying to just vocally shake him from this and eased closer to him before proceeding to lightly shake him with one hand.

"Master Skywalker, release yourself!" Right then and there, one voice entered the Jedi's mind. A voice he had not heard in ages, a voice that sounded pained with the level of sadness he hadn't heard in a long time.

A voice that was familial in nature.

"Luke." Right afterwards his eyes shot open and he let himself fall back, all the while he started breathing heavily. Immediately his apprentice rushed to his side.

"Master Skywalker!" Kneeling at the Jedi Master's side, she lifted his head and shoulders and cradled him gently in her arms. A few seconds passed and as soon as he settled his breathing, he shooed the girl away though she didn't listen. Instead as he sat upright, she lowered her hand down to his back and gazed into his eyes, her face still showing that great deal of concern.

"Are you alright? What did you see?! What happe-" One raised finger by the master prompted her to silence herself. Taking a moment, Luke began to ponder over the nature of what he saw and the emotion it was swarmed by. Memories poured through him, now, clues, suspicions and more. When he initially left that fateful day and broadcast his final message, he swore he was doing that right thing, that dropping everything to search for the first Jedi temple would bring him solace, a solution to all these problems. He meant it when he said he had intended to come back when he was good and ready after this journey and at first with his thoughts swirling within his head, he almost convinced himself that he still had that intent.

After thinking back to what happened however and how Rey passed him her lightsaber, THE lightsaber that was passed down to him by his master which came from his father before him and how instead of taking a moment to ask who she was and what was going on, he just chucked it behind his head like it meant nothing to him? He realized exactly how far off the beaten path he had gone. He was no hero looking for an answer to restore peace to his shattered heart. That part of him had gone long ago and what was in its place?

Well one thing was for certain. It wasn't Luke Skywalker, the hero who had once played a vital role in bringing down the Empire's deadly superweapon and the organization as a whole. In its place was a fractured, tired and frightened old fool who decided he was better off being left to die and let millions of others suffer horrific fates and all because the truth about the Jedi Order scared him.

"Master?" Rey finally let out, her head cocked and face still full of concern. Calmly, the Jedi Master stood up and with the Force? He reached out to his father's lightsaber and grabbed hold of it. Slowly, he closed his eyes and finally spoke, his voice possessing a calm and hushed tone.

"I'm fine Rey. I just... felt a disturbance." The pupil's head cocked to the side a little more.

"A disturbance?" Her voice sounded off with a little more curiosity. In response, Skywalker nodded.

"I heard a voice cry for my name. Saw a face filled with agony. I felt..." Taking a moment to clear his throat, the aging warrior felt as a single tear trickled down his face, his memory being painted with that of his loving sister. "I felt the agony of a loved one and all because I was so foolish to give up."

"But Master Skywalker, you said it yourself." Rey replied. "You even showed me. The Jedi had to e-"

"The Jedi ending has nothing to do with this." He said right as he reached into a part of his robe and brought a familiar set of jewelry. That jewelry being a set of golden dice that every now and again Han would set up in the Falcon which immediately brought the memories of the moment he took his first step into that larger world. "Young one, I know what I said and rest assured, I'm not going back on my word. The Jedi Order, as it once was, needs to end." Staring at what was possibly the last treasure to remember his dear friend by, Luke's mind flashed through various cherished memories of days gone by. Memories of laughter, smiles, action and triumph went through his head, each brought out a strong emotional reaction from his heart and the last one was the strongest.

That being the memory of when he promised his two best friends that no matter what happened, he'd keep their son safe no matter what though that wasn't all he did. He also leaned down and with a light kiss to his sister's stomach, assured Ben's younger siblings that as long as he was around? No harm would ever come to them. With a final few tears, Luke started his way out the temple with his hand beckoning Rey to follow. His final response being something simple and direct.

"But the end of the Jedi doesn't have to mean the end of peace. Grab your things, we're leaving right away."

* * *

 _Several lightyears away..._

( _Undisclosed Forest_ )

There may have been more beautiful and peaceful lands on the Earth than the forests, but if so, they were unknown to Bols. It wasn't that the land wasn't beautiful for if that were the case? He'd be one of the worst liars in the universe. Verdant, mild and flecked with bands of white cloud, it was one of the few areas outside of his personal chambers where Bols felt a degree of comfort and relaxation and not the stress and pain of his job and if there was ever a moment where he could just sit against one of the trees and rest? He would gladly take almost every opportunity to do so. However, that was only during certain times, a fact he quickly was reminded of once he made it a good distance out before then stopping at the sight of a lone Danger Beast, tearing into a young deer. At first, he swore he could get away without any problem. After all, it would only take him a few seconds to come up with a proper escape route and sneak around him. Unfortunately, the universe wasn't exactly on his side for just when he was about to turn, a bird right by his head just happened to chirp a little too loudly, thus alerting the monstrosity to his presence. Realizing his cover was blown, he decided to make a break for it.

He lost track of how long he had been running, his attention mostly being locked on the monster's howls and his decision which led to all of this, the thought of which caused Bols to lower his head slightly out of shame. While he for the most part felt he made the right decision, deep down was where most of the conflict laid, it was where he was starting to express a bit of resentment for himself. Had he known how bad everything was going to get. how much this situation was falling out of control? He would've gotten his family first before he made a run for it. Behind him, the sound of the Danger Beast's claws tearing into the dirt floor told him exactly how bad of an idea that was. Bols could hear it shouting, coming closer. He was starting to come to the unfortunate conclusion that there was no way he could possibly outrun it. And even if by some quirk of fate he did escape, there would simply be more beasts waiting, all of whom would be ready to rip him to shreds.

And in a moment that seemed outright cruel, as soon as he swore that quirk of fate was possibly going to come, he was caught off-guard by another Danger Beast which collided into him at full force. With a sickening howl, the monster stared into Bols with its blank, heartless eyes though the only portion he was really paying attention to was its horrific maw which was filled to the brim with teeth and dripping hungrily with saliva and want. It gave a snarl and lowered its face to Bols' neck, the teeth and tongue sweeping over his throat. With his defenses quickly ramping up, the former Jaeger drew his arm back and with all his might, he struck the abomination with a solid punch to the jaw which was followed up by a powerful straight kick to the stomach. Right as the monster flew off him and was howling in pain, the warrior tapped into his combat training, rolled back into a nearby tree and used his might to snap off a good portion of a branch and held the sharp point out away from him, ready to keep the beasts at bay.

The monsters were heavily salivating now, the drool on the first one was mixing with runnels of blood dried to its face. He could hear them breathing and their claws digging into the ground, indicating they were ready for a fight. His grip around the branch tightened, his brow furrowed and his feet firmly planted themselves in the dirt. If it was a fight these beasts wanted then it was one they were certainly going to get for even though he quit being with the Jaegers? He was no quitter and wasn't willing to let his demise be at the hands of some slobbering abominations.

And by some stroke of luck, it appeared as though the universe agreed for a few seconds before the beasts were ready to strike, a sharp inhuman hiss sounded off, causing him to divert his attention from one of the beasts and look to his left and what he spotted caused both his and the other beast's eyes to widen. Deeply embedded in the now lifeless monster's cranium was a dark purple laser sword, almost like the one that Esdeath used in her duel with Night Raid which then brought about a bit of confusion and terror.

"Already? Oh great, I should've known not to underestimate the First Order." Bols mentally began in a slightly panicked manner. "First Esdeath and now this. How many of these Force users do they have?" Before he could continue panicking, his attention then shifted to the other Danger Beast which was just staring off to the left, growling with rage and gnashing its teeth in preparation for what it was going to do to its next victim. Before it could actually act on that however, he heard a male voice to his left call out something.

"Now!" Without warning, Bols watched a young blonde woman jump down from one of the trees with a spear raised high in the sky and how with a mighty grunt, she dug the weapon deep into the monster's skull. Blood gushed out of the top of its head and splattered on both the ground below and some of the woman's maroon outfit which the former Jaeger couldn't help but stare at.

"That outfit. Now where have I seen that before?" Before he could question that, he then spotted the source of the male voice and saw someone shrouded in a simple cloak though when it moved, he caught a good glimpse of what looked to be a simple green shirt coupled with dark grey pants which had a belt that he swore held a gun holster, black knee-pads and a pair of dark brown boots which matched up with a pair of dark brown gloves. As for the face? He couldn't quite make out all of it and all he saw was tan skin along with a short grey beard. In most parts of this world, he'd be considered fairly normal if you were to take his purple laser weapon out of the question. Speaking of which, the man calmly grabbed his weapon by the hilt and instead of simply pulling it out, without warning he instead swung the weapon upward, slicing through the back of the head which caused Bols to see part of a bloody stump and prompted a reaction from the girl.

"That was unnecessary and disgusting." After flicking his weapon off, the mysterious warrior turned to the girl.

"Sorry, it's just with the amount I've faced? I need to make sure these things are dead." The man said, his voice slightly raspy and apologetic. "At least you didn't have to do the same to yours." The girl calmly pulled her weapon out.

"True but still, it's incredibly disgusting and had you not given the order? I probably wouldn't have done it." She responded.

"Nonsense," The mysterious warrior said, shaking his head. "I think instinct would've taken over soon enough. Remember, I'm the one who has been seeing you grow and needless to say, you're becoming a fine warrior." Immediately the girl started blushing in response to the man's compliment. Not out of any romantic reason or something along those lines, it was just nice to hear someone give her some words of encouragement after what she had to endure. However, the moment would have to be cut short once she caught a glimpse of the huge shirtless blonde man staring at them in her peripheral vision.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" The girl said, her hand covering her mouth. "I should've asked first, are you okay?" Bols simply nodded though soon afterward, he'd continue with some vocal expression.

"Aside from a few scratches? I'm fine but thanks for the check-up and the assist." Soon after his polite reply, the man simply pulled back his hood, revealing his medium-length grey hair and much to Bols' surprise, two greyed out eyes with the right one having a scar across it, indicating signs of blindness. A few seconds later, the man approached him but not before giving a hand signal for his friend to follow.

"You're lucky enough to get out with just that." The warrior began, one hand at his hip. "I hear a lot that most aren't so lucky."

"Unfortunately that is the case. Hell even with my training, I doubt that I would've been able to keep the fight up with just a measly stick." Bols replied.

"After seeing a man of your size? I think you're being too hard on yourself." The young girl replied, her eyes darting up and down his impressive scarred frame.

"If this was one beast then of course I would've been." Bols replied with a small chuckle. "But two? It's gonna take more than a good workout to face them off." The mysterious man let out a chuckle of his own.

"You're definitely right about that." Right after this, the warrior's mind rushed to the man's weapon. Even with the possibility that he was still of this planet, just how exactly did he get his hands on one of these laser weapons. After all, they didn't just pop up out of thin air or grow on trees for otherwise just about everyone would've been using them in place of regular swords and shields. The idea of them having to endure the unfortunate hell that was the First Order's rule which resulted in them losing their leader only to then see a stranger with this same kind of laser weapon pop up from out of nowhere and not at any time before where they desperately could've used his assistance raised just so many questions. So without wasting anymore time, he got to them.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are your names?" The girl immediately raised an eyebrow which prompted the former Jaeger to quickly add another line. "It's only polite and also I just want to come with you."

"Come with us?" The male questioned, his arms now crossing. "What happened?" Before Bols could answer, an inhuman screech sounded off overhead, causing all three people to look up just in time to spot a TIE Fighter ripping through the skies at breakneck speeds which cause a few specks of dirt and leaves to fly wildly through the air. Quickly, Bols pointed behind him towards the general direction of where the TIE was headed.

"That happened." Bols began. "Forgive for putting this weight on you stranger but that ship which flew overhead? That's the very reason why I'm asking to go with you. For a few days now my home, the Imperial Capital has been under the thumb of these thugs and before they came to us? They had been slaughtering several innocents and are seemingly aiming to have the whole planet under its rule. For now? They are under the impression that I am dead and I'd prefer to keep it that way or at least until we can mount a proper offensive and hopefully take back my land or at least, hopefully we can do so before anyone else has to suffer by their hands. That's why I'm asking if I can stay." The man immediately held one hand to his chin and began to ponder the idea. It wasn't unfair and the reasoning behind it was totally understandable for he had already become well-aware of just how deadly this new "First Order" was but in terms of mounting an offensive? The man closed his eyes as a mixture of frightened droid beeps, screams and mechanical breaths began sounding off in his head, reminding him of what happened the last time an offensive was mounted against such a massive regime like this. Almost immediately he was shaken from these thoughts by his arm being encased in warmth, thus prompting him to turn towards Spear who was looking at him with a face full of concern and it was right then he remembered a teaching his one of his old masters gave him, one that had served him well for many years.

"Impossible, nothing is. Even with all odds clearly being stacked against us, as long as you have balance, patience, a goal, a clear mind and drive to achieve that and you trust in the Force? See success, you will." Right afterwards, the man's lips curved into that of a warm smile as he then reached out to shake Bols' hand.

"You have my permission to stay with us." The man began. "As for your introductions, that blonde woman you see is an apprentice, Spear." With her blush now returning, the young girl gave a polite bow which prompted a brief smile from the former Jaeger before he then turned towards the man.

"Makes sense but who's the master?" Immediately the man pointed towards himself.

"You're looking at him. The name is Kanan Jarrus."

* * *

 _Author's Addendum_ :

 **Well, this chapter certainly had more going on didn't it? Not only did it have more dialogue and showed off what was going on in the main Star Wars galaxy but it included some fanservice for Battlefront II (The 2017 one because while yes EA's greed may have made it to where this game left a sour taste in the mouths of many gamers, I quite liked the story of it, especially when it came to the Resurrection DLC.), The Last Jedi and in particular dropped some bombshells about potential characters who may be joining the fight and just in case that guest is still reading? This is why I didn't go for any idea involving OC Jedi in order to give Night Raid hope. There was already a plan in place and it was thanks to The Last Jedi reigniting my interest that I was able to go through with this and include some ideas outside of what I originally planned. Now of course, there are questions that will have to be answered, starting with how Kanan Jarrus is on the planet when it's highly possible they could reveal that he is dead by the time of the ST. The full reason for this will be explained in a spin-off of this story as well as another chapter but just in case you can't wait that long? Allow me to quickly reveal some details.  
**

 **Due to an incident that was going on with him and the Ghost crew, Kanan was forced to escape and he ended up flying far from his system. Unfortunately he ended up running out of fuel and crashed near the area where he was then discovered by members of Spear's family (Spear for those who don't know is the character who dies quite the grisly death in Akame ga Kill when the Three Beasts attack her and Prime Minister Chouri. While she survived a small wound to the abdomen? Things quickly go wrong when the more psychopathic Nyau decided to go a bit Leatherface and slice her face off.). Of course this means he was around for when the Three Beasts attacked but thanks to his efforts and use of the Force? He was able to get her out of there and basically erase their memories of ever meeting him while implanting fake memories of killing Spear. Is that convenient? I admit it is but trust me, more will be explained in the full story. After this, Kanan decided to take Spear under his wing not as a Jedi but more as a surrogate child and considering all that she had been through? He felt she especially needed it for he was reminded of not only issues Ezra had been through but also struggles he had during Order 66. Part of the reason for this was quite simple, I LOVE Rebels. While it's a little iffy in areas? It is a great follow-up to TCW and even if you love that series but are just not as interested in viewing it? At least view the season two finale Twilight of the Apprentice. Seriously, that episode was amazing.**

 **As for the two final details I should note, they aren't really anything big but they're still something I thought I'd point out. The Aqualish known as Wrui is actually based on one of my reviewers. In this case, it's DruidFWY for when you're not sure of how to come with interesting names that fit the Star Wars universe? Sometimes I like looking at the names of my followers and playing with them to come up with what I need since while it's not perfect? It's better than giving them an overly plain name like Bob. As for the second, the idea for the scene where Zay uses the droid Dio to slice into a terminal to cause the bridge to retract and send troopers hurtling to their death came from play sessions of the original Battlefront II for PS2 and PC. Sometimes when I saw enemies coming over a bridge on the Death Star map, I'd decide to shoot the terminal which would then explode and send troops falling. I'm not sure what I like about this idea so much but it just sounds like a fun Star Wars moment where I can totally picture someone like Han getting sick of dealing with an onslaught of troopers so they shoot a terminal only to see that instead of just closing the door? Hundreds fell to their doom.**

 **With all that said, I hope you enjoy this chapter and for those who are curious? There's only five more chapters to go. Once we hit 35? The story will finish up. Once again, thanks everyone for waiting so patiently, I hope you all have a fantastic night, that the holidays are happy and fun and may the Force be with you.  
**


	31. Chapter 31

( _The Finalizer_ )

"Breathe." Echoed the voice of Kylo Ren. "Just breathe." Although he did as he was told, inevitably this left the boy incredibly confused. While he didn't necessarily spend the majority of his time really mulling over and internally discussing what goes into training a student of the Dark Side, let alone the Force, from what he could gleam in regards to the whole practice, he expected nothing short of pure hell with the most common mental depiction he had was simply being thrown into a room full of Stormtroopers and whatever else the First Order and then proceeding to hopefully survive the onslaught and at first, it seemed to be that was to be the exact plan once he entered a truly massive, shimmering and empty room with the only other details that were present being a selection of lights and doors. It was all so beautiful but oddly empty and, much to his growing paranoia's chagrin, silent.

"I understand that this is more than likely not what you expected." Kylo began as he proceeded to pace around his two apprentices who were both sitting with legs crossed and hands on their knees. "And possibly not what you wanted but as I've found from my former master, one of the best ways to tap into the Force is through peace and meditation." For most Sith, the words coming out of Kylo's mouth would've been the equivalent of heresy. After all, the Dark Side was fueled by passion, rage and sorrow and thus usually the best way to bring it out would be through forcing intense emotion such as forcing someone into one vicious battle and telling them to picture their opponent as being someone or something they absolutely despise and letting that anger flow. Being someone who studied as much of Sith lore as he could, Kylo understood this just about as well as the Sith of old did and would've possibly jumped to this training right away if it wasn't for two major snags.

The first was that his new apprentice, unlike Vitani, was nowhere near as in tune with his combat abilities nor was he even all that familiar with the Force on a basic level, meaning that rushing him into combat was more than likely going to leave him either as a corpse or at best a broken husk who would quickly be of no use to him. The second and final issue was the most concerning. His outburst in one of the many restrooms of the destroyer, as noted by the officer on the scene, could've very easily left the ship in a critical condition which had the possibility of resulting in either the ship being disabled or it would be sent hurtling towards the planet's surface in a massive inferno of twisted and mangled scrap metal and although the officer tried to use this as a way of labeling the young boy as a threat? The Dark Lord couldn't help but admit after giving his words some thought that he had a very good point which was quite rare for the staffers of this military that he never understood the use for.

Though his mental compliment wouldn't really mean much for he already knew from the experience on Starkiller Base how deadly a raw Force-user can be once they're left to their own devices, wandering an area and experimenting with abilities they never knew they had. Still, the main point was not lost on him. Tatsumi needed to become in tune with the Force before he could truly use it.

"Clear your mind." Kylo continued. "Put your minds completely at ease." Surprisingly even with her former target of affection in the same room, Vitani he felt doing just that almost immediately with there only being the slightest bit of hesitation which further cemented herself as being his most promising and gifted. The boy on the other hand was a different story for just through standing next to him, Kylo could feel the conflict raging within him which came as no surprise in spite of the complete turnaround he had made when he finally accepted his new position, especially when considering what he did to him. Through some of the most twisted sorcery imaginable, the boy was subjected to visions and hallucinations through all his senses which included strange odors, fleeting touches, voices calling him, sights he could never have imagined and far more.

And Kylo saw the effect of it all.

He saw the tears flowing down his face, his expression twisting with agony, heard his screams. He knew firsthand just how fractured his soul was left during the whole ordeal and even when he finally offered himself up as his apprentice, he felt something deep within him. Whereas Vitani provided unquestioning loyalty and unending admiration of the sheer power he possessed? Tatsumi had nothing but pure unbridled hatred churning inside him. It was hatred that he knew the target of and how it was the kind that easily could lead to his life being doomed if left unchecked. With this in mind, the dark warrior made sure to keep his lightsaber clipped to his belt. With all the stories he had read in regards to the Sith, he knew it was far wiser to be safe and on edge than to let hubris overtake oneself. Finally after a few more moments, Tatsumi's mind seemed to settle which prompted Kylo to push on.

"Now reach out." He told the two of them. "Not physically but with your feelings and Tatsumi, I want you to tell me what you see." Very quickly Tatsumi was losing himself as he concentrated on Kylo's words. He was becoming unaware of his body and let his consciousness drift. As expected, things didn't go so well for familiar voices started piling on.

The same voices that refused to leave which always seemed to go in pretty much the same order. It'd start with Akame, then it'd move to Mine, then Yoda and would then keep cycling through them at such fast speeds until they were going off at the exact same time. Having predicted this would happen, the Dark Lord cut in right as Mine's voice was beginning with its usual chastising of his decisions.

"Calm your mind." Kylo began. "I understand that you're just starting to become in tune with the Force and that it's feeding into the conflict inside." Immediately, Tatsumi could feel himself proceeding to sweat profusely and his brow furrowing as he tried his best to push the voices and images to the side. However, his brow furrowing also came in response to his master's words for it was painfully obvious and multiple replies came up in his mind. One of which was seen by the man himself as evidenced by his response.

"I told you already, what you saw was images I witnessed when I first obtained the lightsaber of Darth Vader and reflections of everything that the Imperial archives have taught me. True the images were gruesome but it was necessary to show you the flaws with your current path. It may have left some... scars but it's nothing you can't overcome."

"But... my mind, it fills with so many images."

"Control yourself." Kylo instructed. "The Force is feeding into that conflict but it lacks focus, focus that beings like us have and have used for centuries to control and bend this power to our will. Clear your thoughts, relax and direct that focus."

After a few more moments, Tatsumi finally relaxed and began to free his mind, began to control the images. At last there was something, not clear at first but at the very least there was something. Gradually the voices began to fade into the ether and in its place there was a selection of images which he proceeded to name.

"Life. Death and decay, that feeds new life. Warmth. Cold. Peace. Violence." Watching with the utmost intent, Kylo held one hand up to his chin as he watched his apprentice, his brow furrowing as the words of his original master echoed in his mind. Any moment where he decided to refer back to the teachings of Skywalker was nothing short of anger-inducing for he was always a part of his life that he wanted to burn to ash. After all, with all that Skywalker had done, he lacked the wisdom of the Supreme Leader and still pushed for the complete eradication of the Dark Side in spite of all the help that it brought and the fact it was the very lifeblood of the Force.

But even so, there were still moments where he had to admit the old fool had a degree of wisdom and at the very least, if it wasn't for him, most of his understanding of the Force wouldn't be anywhere near as great as it was now and so he pushed on.

"And between it all?"

"Balance and energy." Tatsumi began, his voice incredibly calm. "A force that has always been there, surrounding all living beings and connecting the galaxy."

"And inside you?"

"That is where that same power resides." Slowly Kylo lowered a hand to his shoulder and lightly grasped it.

"You feel it flowing through you. Good, very good." Kylo said as he slowly closed his eyes. "Now continue reaching out with your feelings and tell m-"

"Wait, I see something else." Tatsumi interjected, another image had very quickly popped into his mind and was gradually clearing, the image being that of a tall structure. "I see a base. Th-That's..."

"Your base," The Dark Lord identified, trying his best to hide his growing excitement. "I see it, too. You have friends there don't you?"

"More former alli-"

"Doesn't matter what they are." Kylo interjected. "Concentrate harder and I promise you that you will see them."

Tatsumi's concentration intensified. And right before both his and his master's eyes, that tall structure became clearer. As he concentrated even more as was requested, he was able to see forms, familiar forms of people he knew. Some of whom he respected and others he did not.

"I see them!" Tatsumi exclaimed, his eyes still shut. "Mainly Akame and... Wave?" The boy's tone immediately changed into something that Kylo wasn't sure was meant to show a slight hint of horror or anger. "What the hell is he doing there? He was one of the Jaegers, he shouldn't b-wait. I also see Kurome is there too. Why is Akame by her side? Why are they seemingly treating her back to health?" Immediately the Dark Lord took note of the increasing speed in his apprentice's tone. "Don't they realize what they're doing? They were the enemy! Wave tried to kill me!"

"Perhaps that was their intent." Kylo mused. "After all, you were considered by them to be worthless, a pawn of war." A sudden agony, of body and spirit, took hold of Tatsumi as well as a wave of confusion and anger.

"I guess the First Order called for desperate measures but why? Why would they take them under their roof? Even after all that the Empire did to them?!" Unbeknownst to the two of them, as soon as Tatsumi began vocalizing the sights in his head, Vitani wasted no time in tapping into that same signature and so like the rest of them, she saw that exact same image of Wave and Kurome under the care of Night Raid and even was there long enough to see Mine rush into the room though that did not matter for another aspect had caught her eye and caused her teeth to grit with anger.

"You filthy traitor." She growled under her breath. "I should've known you would never have had the spine to continue with the Empire since then I would've scrubbed your filth off the face of this planet long ago." Even though this wasn't exactly the hardest to believe for the Empire was no stranger to the idea of desertion, especially when Najenda left the group all those years ago. It nevertheless was the spark that lit the flames of her fury for Wave was almost always a troublesome sort. Much like Tatsumi, Wave was someone who was absolutely ripe with idealism, the kind that was incredibly infectious. Unlike other members of the Empire and this was especially the case with the arrival of the First Order, that boy always had a question or a counter for any orders he was given and could never focus on just being a good soldier and it was because of this that during her days as Esdeath, there was not one time that would go by where she wasn't seriously debating the possiblity of just ending him, much in like how she held no love for the prime minister. The only problems were of course that would cause a massive commotion and when he did get going, the boy was one of their most brilliant fighters. He was the kind of person that she saw as being able to possibly even take down whole platoons if he so desired and so eliminating him would deprive the Empire of a valuable resource.

But in this case, that valuable resource has seemingly gone turncoat. The warrior had officially dropped his weapons and changed to the opposing side, at long last completing that plan the idealism that brewed within him wanted and that was simply unacceptable. So much so that had she gotten the chance, the dark warrior would've stood straight up and made her way towards a fighter with full intentions to end their miserable lives. What stopped her however when she was finally back on her feet was the oddity of all the sound immediately silencing itself right as a certain gravelly voice filled the room.

"I'm impressed Kylo Ren." It began, the tone causing both the master and the one apprentice who was meditating to open their eyes. "I thought when making this little check-up that I'd find nothing but failure and unfulfilled promises. It seems however you have surpassed my expectations." Upon recognizing the voice, the Dark Lord immediately jerked his head to the side, his face full of confusion. The idea almost sounded impossible. How could he have gotten there so fast? How was it that he didn't notice it until now? Wasn't the reason for why he didn't battle was that he was frail and weak, why is he now in the same room? His confusion was only compounded by the sight of who the voice belonged to being right in the center of the room where he saw both his students staring on with faces full of surprise at the tall and gaunt pale figure in his whitish gold robe standing tall in front of them.

"S-S-Supreme Leader." Kylo began, struggling to get his words out. "H-How did y-"

"Although my physical form leaves a lot to be desired." Snoke began. "My strength in the Force is the complete and utter opposite. It took what felt like an eternity to gather up the necessary energy to project myself to this location but it wasn't impossible." While Kylo was still left stammering like a fool, the slender figure of Snoke took a moment to examine the new students who were both staring at him in awe. Vitani in particular was left amazed by the sudden appearance. Kylo Ren was already a skilled swordsman and filled with power, both of which were qualities she adored but Snoke? Even though all he was doing was just standing still, the fact he had the power, just the sheer amount of raw power to even show up despite being in a far-off galaxy and yet she could still feel the weight of it was incredible. So much so that she'd be lying if she didn't admit that his apprentice right then and there seemed a little worthless by comparison and with that kind of authority he commanded? She knew it was wise to just stand and listen

"Speaking of which, it's rather heartening to see that you have already taken a few younglings under your wing and from what I can sense, they are filled with promise and power." Before the Dark Lord could even revel in the praise, as he had come to expect ever since his failure to deliver the scavenger to him, his tone shifted into disappointment. "However, my faith in you has only been partially restored for you still have not completed your quest." His apprentice dipped his head by way of apology and shame.

"Supreme Leader, I take full responsibility for th-"

Snoke cut him off. "I care not for your apology. What my focus is centered on is why in spite of the might your fleet possesses, your strength in the Force and all the superiority that comes with it have you not delivered to me what was promised?" In spite of the fact his master was nothing more than a simple projection, just this ability alone was more than enough to send chills down his spine for it let him know that regardless of how hard he'd work, train and meditate, there was a good reason why his master could simply sit in a chair and command as much respect as he did which made his failure to grab the girls even harder to open up about. After all, what could he really tell him? He was so locked in the idea of striking fear into the hearts of everyone they came across and making their presence known that he forgot about the mission? He was still struggling to lock onto their signature?

Unfortunately, he ended up not keeping those thoughts under the lock and key which he learned the hard way once he heard Snoke's tone filled with disappointment.

"And to think I called you the master of the Knights of Ren." As soon as the last word left the Supreme Leader's lips, Vitani couldn't help but feel a desire to march towards the dark leader stand up for her master for even with all that had happened and in spite of how impressive this showcase of the Force was. She still saw the value in Kylo and his teachings. After all, if it wasn't for him, she never would've been able to break free from the pitiful Empire and join up with a far more deserving organization but at the same time? She couldn't help but look in awe at the older master's seeming omnipotence. Granted that more than likely wasn't what it was but she never knew for this world was still incredibly foreign and regardless, the image of this frail, spindly old being who looked to be far past his prime and how it completely betrayed the sheer power on display was nothing short of fascinating and it only served as further proof that her joining the First Order and learning the ways of the Force was the best idea she could've had.

Still that didn't stop her from speaking out.

"Forgive me for this Supreme Leader but depending on what Kylo promised you? We found the location of those girls." Immediately her master shot her a look that simply said "Just shut up." but much to his surprise? Snoke's brow simply raised.

"Is that so?" After getting over the confusion and realizing the advantage he had while he was spared a horrific fate, Kylo pushed on.

"Indeed, what you simply came in on was one of our meditation sessions and through that was when I finally saw the girls. They're at a base below us and are in one place."

"Interesting." Snoke replied, clearly intrigued. "Are there any others?"

"There are very few but they're still getting over a recent skirmish. They're still recovering and are incredibly frail, if we act now we may be able t-" Ren was immediately interrupted by a silent buzzing vibration underneath one of his sleeves. After taking a moment to look at Snoke who simply motioned for him to take the call, he quickly rolled back his sleeve to reveal a small communicator and triggered it. A holoscan of Captain Phasma crackled into view.

"Captain, you better make this quick." The Dark Lord impatiently said. "I'm in the middle of important business." The trooper nodded.

"Not to worry, I'm simply calling to inform you that our troopers have identified and captured Lubbock of Night Raid." Tatsumi's eyes widened. "The trooper behind the capture tells me he was the owner of a library they were investigating and that he was causing a disturbance." Upon hearing this, the tall elder's shifted into a pondering expression and all the while his apprentice continued on.

"Were there any others?" Kylo asked with one brow cocked.

"The troopers mentioned they also spotted a pink-haired girl who they identified as Mine, also of Night Raid." Upon hearing that and remembering what both he and Tatsumi saw, the warrior's tone shifted into that of anger.

"And they let her escape?!"

"They said she was of no importance and that they'd rather there be a challen-"

"A challenge?" Ren interjected. "How stupid could that trooper have possibly gotten? It's that kind of behavior that makes me curse the day we put our faith into a bunch of halfwit conscripts instead of investing in a clone army! It's that kind of behavior that will cause the First Order to crum-"

"Cease that whining boy!" Snoke interjected, causing silence to once again fill the room. "As per usual, you see only what's presented on the surface and not what's buried beneath." Obviously confused, Kylo turned to his master.

"With all due respect Supreme Leader, I don't quite get what you mean."

"Oh but you do." Snoke replied, his lips curling into a devious smirk. "After all, from what I can tell, you've apparently seen this girl, correct?" Kylo nodded.

"I saw her running in to greet the other members at the base."

"And she is from the same group as that Lubbock child, right?" Once again, Kylo gave a nod though he once again wasn't sure of what the Supreme Leader meant until the thought then sprang to mind. From what both he and Vitani could gather, Night Raid was in complete and utter disarray as they struggled to deal with the First Order and judging from the appearance of two well-known Jaegers, they seem to be using whatever means necessary in order to survive. Right then and there, his face shifted into an understanding look.

"It's as I've always taught you my apprentice." The Supreme Leader began with a grin. "If the Dark Side is truly to live on, one must learn to adapt to every possible circumstance. I'll appear to you once again at a later point, hopefully after you've completed your mission."

"And if I fa-" Almost immediately, the Dark Lord felt as an unseen hand clenched his throat tightly and although it was as brief as it could be, the excruciating pain and struggle to breath almost made him believe that death had found him right then and there. Then after a few more seconds to the look of horror on Tatsumi and the look of fascination on Vitani, Ren fell to his knees and somehow caught himself on his hands where he felt the cold floor through his gloves and the communicator drop. Right then and there, Phasma had cut off communications for after having heard the conversation, there was no need to push on for the plan.

"There is no need to discuss that at this moment." Snoke said swiftly. "All will be given in due time but if you really want to test my patience and must know? If you fail this quest, you are to seek out a being that has been on this planet for an extreme length of time for additional conditioning and if somehow after all that you fail me again? Simply put Kylo Ren, all my fears about you following the destruction of Starkiller would be confirmed for instead of being the true heir to Darth Vader, you'd be nothing more than a sad pitiful child in a mask." As soon as Snoke's figure disappeared in a blue flash, Tatsumi was about to rush over to help his master up when after a few seconds of a rough coughing fit, one arm shot up telling him to stay put as he steadied himself. This pain was nothing new to him after all for it was the same kind he endured following the loss of Starkiller Base and that scavenger girl and much like that time. All this did was fill him to the brim with fury and now that this happened in front of his students who saw him being absolutely humiliated, he was especially livid as shown through the clenching of his fists and the way his tone nearly devolved into a growl.

"My sincerest apologies for cutting the session short but right now, I need a moment to relax." He let out quickly before proceeding to march his way towards the door, only stopping to look at his two apprentices. "However, that doesn't mean training will stop so Vitani, I need you to grab Tatsumi and fly him down to the Capital and if he complains or tries anything? Report it to me so that it may be swiftly dealt with."

* * *

( _Night Raid HQ_ )

An air of unease had surrounded Najenda's office from the moment she returned and had taken the time to let out her sadness over everything that had transpired and that kept going strong once Mine burst into the room and told her the terrible news.

"Wait a moment, Lubba did what?!" She questioned, voice raised right as she stood up in her seat.

"I tried my best to stop him but the efforts proved to be fruitless!" Mine began. "Now the First Order has him and our position is compromised!" Right then and there, Najenda struggled to control herself. A great deal of her education in the Empire which she had carried with her to the Revolutionary Army had been devoted to learning how to live and move forward in the absence of emotion and normally, even in the face of the worst situations. She'd easily be able to use every bit of that training to remain calm and push forward. However, with how things were going, it wasn't exactly the easiest as her tone showcased a great deal more frustration as she rubbed her head.

"This is just great." She began angrily. "Just perfect, first I had to deal with Tatsumi constantly opposing my orders and talking back, next there was the arrival of the First Order and the death of Susanoo and now one of our best is a prisoner of war!" Upon hearing the mention of her comrade, Mine couldn't help but feel compelled to speak up.

"With all due respect, Tatsumi was... is..." Not sure of which word she should use given his status, eventually she just shook her head and started anew. "Look a young man like him will always have a hard time transitioning to this new environment." As she brought out a cigarette, Najenda couldn't help but let out a snide chuckle

"That's almost exactly what Lubbock told me." She began. "Considering what happened now? It's not hard to see why." The sniper's expression twitched with bewilderment. Being angry was one thing considering all that had happened but to see her acting like this where her behavior is somewhat off and riddled with anger and a hint of snark? It all seemed so out of character for her even with the circumstances. Even so, she still pushed on.

"So what are we supposed to do exactly?" Mine questioned only to get no answer. "I mean depending on where they take him, we're obviously going to mount a rescue ri-"

"A rescue?" The boss interjected, shooting her a look. "After an action of pure stupidity like that where he basically got himself captured by an enemy with tech far beyond what we've seen and has provided Esdeath with a power far above what we've faced before, you're saying 'screw our lives, let's go save them'?" Once again the sniper found herself at a loss for words.

"Um, yes?" After looking at her for a few more seconds, the boss just let out a scoff and sat down.

"If you want to get yourself slaughtered? Be my guest." Najenda replied callously. "I've handled stupid missions from two warriors before and I've lost three of my best so why not let you do the same?"

"Excuse me?" Mine almost barked, earning an odd look from the boss. "Am I even talking to the same person here? I mean sure Lubbock made a stupid decision but haven't we all at some point?"

"Here's a correction Mine," Najenda began right after she took another puff of her cigarette. "you've all made either one or two SMALL dumb decisions and even so they were early in your careers which were then ironed out. Tatsumi decided he cared less about following orders and more on satiating his lust revenge regardless of how we would end up in the process and Lubba decided that since he was bitten by whatever bug that boy had to follow in his footsteps when I made it ABUNDANTLY clear you were supposed to analyze the Capital and see how things have changed with the arrival of the First Order. But he defied that and now he's left to pay for his mistake in his blood and he will have no one to blame but himself for all this." The sniper looked at her commander with complete and utter bewilderment. With what was going on, she knew Najenda would be taken at least a tiny bit out of her comfort zone, that maybe she'd be a little quicker to anger but this? This tone was so completely unlike the commander which only made her feel more of a desire to push on.

"True but how the hell would you expect the man to react?" She questioned.

"I don't know, like a soldier?" The boss replied.

"Considering the circumstances we've all been thrust into and the importance that library held for us, it's hard to really blame h-"

"And that's where you are wrong." The boss interjected, her voice possessing something that was almost akin to the crack of a whip. "This is one of the most basic ideas that someone who specializes in keeping important information hidden learns. The best way to avoid being caught is to not act like you have something to hide and had Lubbock had the basic sense to just keep walking, he would've been just fine and possibly they would've pinned the blame on someone e-"

"And let them be killed?" Najenda flashed Mine a glare.

"Considering we don't really have much of a choice in options, yes."

"Really, even though most of the time all we do is sit around and discuss the Empire?" Even before Najenda flashed her that expected look of shock and disappointment, the assassin could just hear her mind cursing itself for replying with something that cold and insulting to the commander, the same one who just lost their Imperial Arms and has endured far more losses in this never-ending hell than they ever have.

"Have you forgotten who we are Miss?" She questioned. "Because if you haven't, take a look around. We may be powerful in terms of abilities and incredibly skilled but we're not what you'd call a primed fighting force to carry out prolonged open assaults." In spite of the fact her mind was screaming for her to just shut up, Mine pushed on.

"Oh I've known about that for a long time, a few years even and yet ever since Tatsumi came into the picture, I can't help but feel over the years we've gone from brave heroes to a bunch of emotionless fools who sit around debating all day."

"Bite your tongue!" Najenda replied bluntly. "If it wasn't for the fact we even took this careful approach in the first place, Night Raid wouldn't have been able to get as far as it has."

"As far as it has huh? Really, that's what you call this because with all due respect boss, this has done nothing but bring us the deaths of three loyal comrades, the potential capture of one and the definitive capture of another and a leader who thought that killing someone because they dared to have emotions was the best decision that could be made." Najenda froze where she sat, her mind briefly questioning the idea on how she could've learned before then settling on the unfortunate truth. Regardless, she thought maybe with how stressed the girl was, maybe she could spin it a certain way.

"You're in shock, you know you don't be-"

"Considering Lubbock has been very forthcoming with me about those conversations and I've seen how you and Tatsumi have conversed before we lost him, I wouldn't think he's lying for a single goddamn second." The boss flinched as if she had been struck by a blow she had an idea was coming. Just like that her plan crumbled and thus she was left to push on and make due with what she had. Or at least, that's what she would've done if her mind was working in a far more normal manner but instead, She met her stare as she stood up to her level once more.

Her answer came almost instantly. "I don't know what you're talking abo-"

"Drop the act and stop denying it," Mine snapped. "considering a few moments earlier you were acting like the typical broken wreck who only finds peace in their vices, this change in behavior does nothing but provide further confirmation that something is up." Silence radiated throughout the room as commander and soldier were left to just stare into each other's eyes with their expressions unchanging. Deep down Mine knew at this time it wasn't really the best call for her to start getting into this argument but really, what time was there? With the First Order now closer than ever to practically breathing down their necks and this change in behavior by Najenda, it was either she brought it up now and just got it out of the way or have it forever linger in the back of her mind, nagging at her for eternity.

Finally after a few more seconds and a failed attempt to light another cigarette, Najenda responded but when she did so, she did so slowly, enunciating her words and trembling all the way. "We're in the middle of a full-fledged war and one that a third, far more dangerous faction, has forced itself into. Sometimes during these, you have to make the tough decisions."

Mine practically spat her words. "And without telling everyone?"

"You know the uproar that would've caused." Najenda replied, her tone unchanging.

"You're a leader aren't you? You should be used to the uproar. Someone with such a high position should be brave enough to face it down no matter what." Najenda flashed her a look of fury which Mine simply took in stride. "You've done it before, what makes now so different?"

"The discussion of possibly having to permanently terminate someone's membership isn't exactly the kind of topic that would cause a simple upro-"

"Then if you were so scared of the idea why even suggest it to Lubbock?" Najenda was gazing at the sniper in a manner as if she was wounded though really, that wasn't the most accurate way to describe the feeling since her expression then changed back to its standard look of frustration right as she grabbed her box of cigarettes and started marching toward the door. Considering this was her one and only chance, Mine immediately went to block her.

"Tell me. Look me dead in the eyes like a commander and either continue trying to tell me how wrong I am or the truth for trust me, I don't care if it takes us a whole couple of hours but the latter is going to come out."

"Whose side are you on?" Najenda spat. "Do you have any idea what's going on out th-"

"Hard to forget the image of a huge ship flying overhead so I'm going to say I do have a damn good idea on what's going on outside though considering a few moments ago you sounded as if you were going to give up, I don't know why that's important."

"Well in that case you clearly have no clue." The boss replied, her tone losing more and more of her cool. "Otherwise you would've dropped this whole meaningless conversat-"

"Don't you dare call this meaningless." Mine snapped. "The life of our best allies, two living beings has almost always been one of our main concerns and I'm not gonna let you stand here and write them off like garba-"

"If those two were truly our 'best' allies then tell me, wouldn't they have come around eventually?" Mine simply stared into her boss's face, her glare becoming even harsher.

"Sounds like you want them to just keep quiet and follow orders blindly." Right then and there, she searched for a spike to drive straight through her boss's heart. It didn't matter anymore what reaction she'd draw out, what action she'd take or the pain she was going through, she just wanted her words to hit as hard as they could.

"You might as well still be an Imperial general." Following that, there was nothing calm about the woman who stood before Mine. Right then and there, the boss's face had been torn away, leaving something vicious and raw which matched her actions for immediately afterwards, her prosthetic hand clenched into a fist, crushing the box of cigarettes into a tiny ball of smashed cardboard and her tone which stabbed deep into her like a knife.

"What do you know? No really, what do you honestly know because in case you haven't noticed, we don't really have the luxury of making the best of decisions! Maybe in another world, things would be different. Maybe if this was just the Empire, then we could figure something out but we don't live in that time do we?" Right before Mine could attempt a reply, the boss roughly grabbed her by the arm with her human hand and dragged her to the window before then proceeding to point towards the faint blurred shapes flying in the distance. "No, instead we live in a world where that is a real threat we have to face and what has that threat caused us?! Nothing really aside from the destruction of multiple villages, the deaths of several living beings regardless of who they've been affiliated with and most importantly, they have our worst adversary working with them and I don't think I need to tell you what THAT has brought us!" Once again, the sniper tried her hardest to speak but not only did the words refuse to come, she instead took note of the boss's change in tone as it became just ever so slightly more shaky and stricken with a hint of sadness.

"You think it's easy for me to make these decisions?" She questioned. "That I can just point to any one of you even after you've given me a little lip and say that you need to be silenced or that I can be opposed to saving the very person that helped me to break out of all this?" As she continued on, Mine decided to look to her left at the boss after hearing her voice beginning to shake just a little bit more and was immediately taken aback by the sight of a clear fluid drop down her face. "I have been in this fight for far longer than you can possibly imagine. Some people end up simply joining a fight but for me? I LIVED it. From being involved with the Empire to leading this group of assassins, there has not been a single day where I can just relax and take these plans slow. You're not the only one who lost good friends and trust me when I say, you're not the only one who has had a hard life." Screams, blood and pleas for the agony to stop all rang through Najenda's mind. All of which belonged to memories that she had wished would leave her head at some point. Silence once again filled the room with Mine being left dumbfounded at what was told to her. She wanted to say something, anything but ultimately? She was left with nothing.

And really, what was she supposed to say to Najenda? After what she said, there was a sharp cold that had ended up deep within her bones, biting at the marrow and even if she wanted to continue the assault, she was left with no weapons to use. The two continued standing side-by-side for a long while. Najenda simply stared out at the environment, ignoring the distant ships and taking in all the sights, all the while thinking about her comrade and the long cherished history they had together though inevitably, that also caused her face to form even more into a frown.

"I can't believe you still had to do this, even after all that has happened." She thought to herself right as her mind flashed through everything that had gone down so far from the arguments with Tatsumi all the way through the death of Susanoo and as expected, that one in particular caused her to wince with sadness as she also recalled her talk with Wave and listened carefully to what he went through, taking all the agony and sadness he had let out which only served as a further reminder of why she broke away at the Empire in the first place. A few seconds later, her next action was one that for all eternity Mine would probably never understand but considering all that had happened? She thought it was best to leave it be.

Silently, Najenda turned towards the door while her mind swirled with debate and walked right out.

* * *

 _Author's Addendum_ :

 **We're now at 31 out of 35 and considering the finale for this story has basically been finished already? Expect production on future chapters to be a bit more swift. As for this chapter? This was an interesting one to write because this came to me basically as a spur of the moment as soon as I watched The Last Jedi a second time and I took note of a few abilities and I thought that they were a perfect way to basically have Snoke appear in this story again since with him being the master of Kylo Ren? I don't think he'd just be sitting in a chair, waiting for the man to come back and thus he may want to do something like this. However, the real difficulty came in how I wanted to set this up and so then I settled on the idea of Kylo training Tatsumi which led to this which may cause some people to raise an eyebrow since Kylo is basically doing what Luke did with Rey in The Last Jedi and really what some Jedi do in general. The reasons for this? First off, because Kylo is no Sith? I feel he'd be a little more inclined to use some of these teachings. Second, I really like the idea that as much as the man would hate to admit it, his master had some really good advice in regards to the Force and considering Tatsumi is someone who's still discovering the Force? It was necessary to have something like this because keep in mind, this story had it where Esdeath basically has always had the Force within her, she just never knew what that power was and already with how Imperial Arms have changed in this world? It'd make sense that her Dark Side training would focus more on combat and that she's more adept and quick to listen. However, Tatsumi isn't and the interesting dynamic here is that in some ways, Tatsumi basically mirrors Kylo in that he's someone with a lot of conflict and is currently quite unstable. Trying to start combat training or anything more drastic with that is only going to end badly.  
**

 **Not only that but bear in mind, Tatsumi already showcased that the Force is strong within him but it's raw and uncontrolled. Basically it's like how the Force has almost always been depicted. There are people who are strong with it and are quite extreme with raw power but without the training to control and direct that power? They're basically either a powder keg or it only comes out when they're in extreme danger which even then they can't always rely on so in this case? The boy really needs to learn to calm himself before he can get a lightsaber. Moving on, then there was that whole scene with Mine and Najenda and this was something I was heavily debating with myself on because knowing how this story worked, I knew that at the very least if no one else was gonna get a scene calling Najenda out for her actions? Mine would be the best contender to have this moment. The problem was execution because to start off, I went through a few different versions of how this was going to end up. There was one where eventually the two would get on better terms, there was another where they're interrupted by a projection of Esdeath (Since The Last Jedi did show that Kylo had some idea on how that ability worked.) who basically goads her arch-nemesis into going out and facing her at the Capital, there was a lot I had to consider and after awhile? Ultimately I found the best option to be that none of that happens and that it's left in an awkward place sort of like how the scene between Cassian and Jyn played out while adding some development to Najenda and showing people how this is especially hard for her and how it's negatively affecting her since I did spend some time in previous chapters having characters think about how this is affecting her and now I'm showing what that has led to.**

 **And yes I can be considered nerdy but you know what? Fanfiction in of itself is a nerdy endeavor and hey, as long as I'm entertaining you guys I could care less. Thank you all for reading, I'll see you next time.**


	32. Chapter 32

( _Finalizer_ )

For all his life, Nines was trained to remember every detail when it counts whether it be something as simple as battle strategies to details as obscure as the specific placement of battle scars and it was thanks to these skills that normally he was able to keep up with the labyrinthine twists and turns of the enormous Star Destroyer's guts. The ship's long hallways were almost always ending and meeting at intersections, turbolifts littered the area and led to nearly identical hallways which seemed to be purely for the sake of driving any potential prisoners it'd harbor up a wall. For most who saw it, they considered it a symbol of terror, a manifestation of several years worth of pent-up anger and a lust for vengeance by ruthless fanatics. For troopers like Nines on the other hand? It was merely home in all the best ways.

Though as the image of a certain chromium-lined figure clicking away at a panel in front of one of the ship's many turbolifts would quickly remind him, the same could be said for the opposite. Those who were more immature of course would simply refuse to see it that way and would throw out their fair share of snide remarks and smart-ass questions all for the sole purpose of trying to get a rise out of their commanding officer who mostly would stay silent which was due in no small part to the fact that their days of dealing with prisoners and smugglers had dulled them to the experience. This was especially true of one of their previous captains who in a similar manner to their successor was covered in a unique sort of armor.

Speaking of that successor, though Nines had come to know it far earlier, it did not take long at all for his fellow troopers to understand that on board the Finalizer, there were three people that you absolutely and under no circumstance should NEVER cross and although she was placed below Kylo Ren? Most who had the displeasure of drawing out her fury felt that Captain Phasma ranked FAR higher and once a pair of dim and flickering lights came into view following the whirring of the turbolift doors? Various recounts by troopers who had to face Phasma's unyielding discipline entered the man's mind which was becoming increasingly more concerned with every step though for him, the sensation was only building off of one that had started from the very moment they left the ship.

The same ship where he decided out of an emotion he didn't know was out of love or stupidity to actually try and spare his partner Mez. Once that came to mind, the soldier let his head lower even more with shame. For a few hours now, his mind had been locked in what felt like an eternal back and forth on if whether or not he made the right choice or if he simply signed both their death sentences. It was also locked in an eternal debate with itself on just why in the many moons of Yavin Prime he'd even consider going for an action like this for in the past, it seemed as though his opinions on the girl were very cut and dry.

Those opinions consisted of the expected but not at all difficult to understand hatred. For all intents and purposes, Mez was what would happen if you managed to take a Gungan, somehow crammed all the worst traits of teenage new recruits and gave them power as well as the sharp tongue of a smuggler and from the very moment she was assigned to him, she seemed to cause nothing but havoc.

And that confusion seemed to ring true for the captain as indicated by her single-word question once they entered her surprisingly dark and cramped quarters.

"Why?" No response came from the soldier for his attention was still locked on the captain's chambers which in spite of all the years the two had spent together, still managed to surprise him. The room was less like a living quarters and more like it was made from a dungeon for the air it gave off was something much more sinister and eerie compared to the rest of the ship and Phasma's armor and position which would suggest that she was much more inclined to live in the far more pristine and courteous upper levels. In fact, if memory served him correctly? Those levels were originally where her quarters were located, the memories of which only caused him to mentally ask what happened.

"Trooper?" Phasma's voice once again went unheard right as Nines turned his attention towards another portion of the room. A portion that had a rather horrific and disgusting answer to the question of where the smell of corpse and rotten material came from which came in the form of a heavily weathered and cracked red trooper helmet which Nines almost immediately recognized as belonging to Phasma's predecessor. Before he could focus on it for much longer however, finally the captain lost her patience and turned the trooper to face her.

"Are you going to spend your time daydreaming or are you actually going to be productive?" Finally free from his trance, the trooper gave out a quick assurance.

"I aim to be productive ma'am." Her voice and countenance unchanging, the captain continued to stare him down.

"For some reason I actually doubt that." As soon as she saw the the split-second jolt, it was clear that the blunt tone hit Nines at his core. However whether it was due to the sight being so unbelievably common that it has simply lost its effect or the genuine, deep-seated disappointment she felt for the man, Phasma couldn't bring herself to even crack a smirk underneath that mask. Instead, she immediately pushed on.

"And I think you know why." Once again, Nines held his head with shame and said nothing, his mind now fully prepared for yet another chew-out, another long-winded but still incredibly damaging speech that really emphasized to him just how much of a failure he was for doing this and Phasma seemed fully prepared to do so for she gave him a good long and hard stare for a good couple of minutes. However, when she eventually did speak? It was simply a return to her question.

"But I think you're more than aware of my strong sentiments of disappointment." She began. "What I really want to know is just why someone like you would ever take part in something so immature and stupid. You think you can tell me that?"

After a few seconds, Nines nodded. "With all due respect ma'am?" The trooper paused, his tongue now deciding to trip all over itself which prompted the captain to roll her eyes as she proceeded to cross her arms. "I-I have no ide-"

"Do you take me for a fool FN-2199?" Stunned by the interruption, the trooper silently shook his head. In response, Phasma cocked her head to the side. "Then you should be very aware that a phrase as childish, non-concrete and recycled as that is not an answer so much as it's a cover for your tracks." For another moment, Nines was silent. More often than not had he heard from troopers during many occasions where he just so happened to pass by her chambers these same words. These same exact tired words that indeed provided no answer or at least, they didn't provide an answer that his superiors liked. Really though, what was he supposed to say? For the next several moments that followed after they touched down on the ship, he has gone over those same few moments a ridiculous amount of times to find any sort of intentional wrongdoing, any hint that would point towards some other power being at work and every time came up fruitless and ended up making the exact same suggestion. He truly did have no idea what triggered the kind of reaction he had to Mez and even if he did? Nothing could take away the sheer amount of shame it filled him and his captain with.

"With that said, I'm going to ask you again." Phasma began, her voice just as cold. "Why would someone like you ever consider this?" Despite knowing the reaction this would bring him, Nines simply repeated the sentiment from before.

"I'm being completely serious." He began, his voice only slightly stronger. "I honestly have no id-" The captain felt instantly annoyed, her mind already filling to the brim with the two hundred or so troopers that uttered this to her as well has how long those conversations ended up going on for. With that in mind, she wasted no time uttering a simple but biting command.

"Take off that helmet." If Nines' head had jerked upward any faster? His neck surely would've snapped. Knowing what was coming next, the captain simply cocked her head as if to say to him "Are you going to disobey me again?" and knowing what she was capable of made it to where Nines was better off listening to her. As calmly as he could manage, he reached up and removed the white dome, allowing his shame-filled visage to come into view. Phasma said nothing through the whole experience, the only noise she made being her light breaths which were quickly proving to be most unnerving for the trooper which wasn't helped by her next command which was given through non-verbal means. The captain extended her hands outward which prompted Nines to hand the shimmering piece of armor over to her, all the while he waited with baited breath as to what this could mean. Slowly, Phasma lifted the helmet up until its visor was at eye-level with the soldier.

"Remember the oath you took when you first received this helmet?" The captain began, breaking what felt like hours worth of silence.

Nines swallowed. "Y-Yes captain. It wa-"

"I don't require a recital." She interjected. "I know you've memorized that down to the last possible detail... or so I thought." Nines tried and failed to hide his wince as that addition was uttered. Showing no reaction, the captain continued.

"So I thought I'd remind you. One portion of the oath mentioned that you are an extension of the Supreme Leader's will, nothing more and nothing less and that when you don this armor, you represent not just the First Order but a symbol of the free galaxy, liberated from the frail grasp of the New Republic, correct?" The trooper looked away. One of the first tasks that he had upon being brought into the Order was that he had to read, write down and recite the oath to near perfection. Not because he was anyone special but rather it was because of the nature of his service. He was one of the few personally trained by Phasma herself and therefore she wanted to make certain that he was as fit to be under her command as everyone else. An action that he remembered brought out quite a few questioning glances from his allies and in the case of FN-2187, a look of worry due to the kind of person the captain was.

Speaking of the captain, she gave a quick snap of her fingers which caused the man's gaze to jump back towards her. "This helmet was more than just armor, it was the ultimate reward for your loyalty to our cause." Disturbingly, her tone dropped right as she cocked her head to the left. "You want to know what your foolishness has done?"

"To be perfectly honest, I really don't." Is what his mind was trying to will him to say but luckily for him, the several days he had spent honing his skills in both combat and mental fortitude proved to be more than enough to refrain from voicing something like that. Instead he remained silent and watched his captain who remained silent and still for a few seconds. Feeling as if he knew what was coming, Nines shut his eyes with his expectation being that of swift judgment. Then, as sudden as an attack by a sand burrower on the planet of Blenjeel, Phasma turned to the wall behind her and in a wordless but vicious fashion, slammed the helmet against the structure. Right then and there, the noise of the material cracking prompted the trooper's eyes to shoot open just in time to see his captain continuing to bash the white dome into the wall with the repeated impact being so great that it was even causing some small dents to show. This would continue for a few more seconds until finally, with a mighty heave, the captain made her last strike. A few seconds of mostly silence with the occasional quick breaths mixed in passed as the trooper just stared at the display with a mixture of horror, shame and even a slight bit of anger. Never in his life had he seen Phasma that enraged, that uncontrolled. It was all such a terrible sight to behold. With this in mind, he strove to remain perfectly still, to control his breathing and relax as he watched the result of Phasma's fury, the shattered remains of his helmet, drop to the ground below.

Calmly, Phasma turned towards the man and when she finally spoke, her tone carried that same cold demeanor. "Let that shattered helmet serve as a symbol for the faith you utterly decimated, my trust which you have cast into the garbage." As she said those words, Phasma's metallic visage began to ease in closer and closer until it was inches away from his face with the intent being clear for as soon as she spoke, he felt every hair in his arms stand up on end. "Let that represent just how much shame you brought to the First Order." Right then and there was when the talk should've ended. At that point, Nines knew she should've given a simple acknowledgment along with some tired saying about how an event like this will never happen again and walk off.

It was unfortunate that at this point, his lips decided to start their motions long before his mind could've caught it.

"I gave everything I had to you." He began. "To the order, to everythi-"

"And it's clear you haven't given enough." The captain interjected, her tone sharp like a knife. In spite of how much of a bad idea this was? Nines pushed on.

"And you're saying this based on one mistake. Granted it was an incredibly foolish mistake b-"

"If you know that to be the case then why did you engage in it?" The trooper immediately tensed up upon hearing that, a movement that Phasma took note of.

It was a movement she decided to use to her advantage.

"It's merely a question FN-2199." She began. "We easily could've stopped this a few seconds earlier but you decided to test my patience so now? I expect you to answer me like a good soldier." In spite of Phasma lacking in the ability to use the Force, Nines found himself struggling a bit to even breathe in that room, the tension was quickly forming a tight and remorseless grip around his throat. Taking note of this, the captain stood and watched the trooper with curiosity to see if he was willing to continue on. Minutes passed and while every now and again there would be a few attempts at stringing together a sentence? A few stammers and stumbles were all it took for it to quickly be derailed which caused Phasma's curiosity to instead turn once again into disappointment. One moment, the trooper was trying to defend himself and seemed like he was finally going to give some answers and then as expected, the shame continued to overwhelm him.

Phasma shook her head with her voice echoing her feelings. "I have no time for this foolishness and these pitiful excuses for insubordination." And it was with those words that she began to make her way out. Right away this sent Nines' mind into a frenzy and with that a slew of various images came rushing his mind with each of them featuring a different outcome following Phasma's report and not a single one of them ended in a pleasant manner. Sweat began to drip down his face, his hands began to twitch and his knees threatened to buckle as the thoughts began to rip through his head and his mind screamed for him to do something though an oddity came not from this but rather who the mind was screaming for him to do this for.

"Think about what will happen to you AND Mez! You have to stop it!" His mind screamed clear as day and upon the mention of that last word, he nearly winced. Of all the people that could pop into his mind right now, the very reason for why his honor and Phasma's trust were now a shattered mess on the floor was the last person he needed to think about especially since his last minute defense of her on the ride back was probably the very CAUSE of this whole discussion in the first place. If he had kept his mouth shut and instead allowed Mez to be executed as was the plan? None of this would've happened and he could've eventually made it up to his captain. Moreover, he actually wouldn't have to worry about someone like her constantly agitating him.

But once that thought entered his mind, he felt a switch flick to life. A switch that had came on only once before during the flight back and when he did engage in the deed with Mez. Soon certain feelings began coming up, feelings that a trooper normally was supposed to refrain from having and yet much to his mixture of disappointment and fear, they came up nonetheless. Like it or not, the time he had spent with Mez was starting to change him. While indeed there were thoughts buried deep within his mind that wanted nothing more than to see that constantly yapping ball of idiocy to be jettisoned out the airlock and crash into the surface of the planet? He couldn't help but be possessed by feelings of concern and fear for her safety, that fear turning ever so slightly panicked once he realized just how low her possibility for survival was without him. He also remembered what they shared together, how they told each other their histories and the slight bit of entertainment that he couldn't help but gain from irritating her. Even though he wanted this to stop, despite feeling he had done more than enough and that it was best for him to stay silent so that he may at the very least die in peace? Nines spoke up with a small lie. Granted it was one that had its basis set in some truth but it was a lie nonetheless.

"It's this blasted plan!" The captain stopped in place with surprise which very quickly gave way to interest as she turned her head back towards the trooper seconds later.

"What was that FN-2199?" Phasma questioned. At first, the trooper felt his throat muscles ready to constrict once more but this time, he completely ignored it and pushed on with his lie.

"Ever since we got the word that we'd be moving out here, my mind has been going wild with anger and frustration over this whole thing. To me, the First Order deserves to be back in our galaxy and battling the Resistance until it's nothing more than a scared fool, flailing helplessly as their pulse beats against our hands. We should be back there restoring peace and order!" As Phasma watched the man getting more and more worked up, she couldn't help but smile behind her mask. This was the answer she was seeking, this was far better than the stupidly long period of silence from earlier.

"But instead of doing that? We are conducting business here. We are conducting business on a random planet just so that we can fulfill one of Commander Ren's ridiculous hunches and while we're out here continuing to waste our time? The Resistance is gaining strength, the last Jedi will rise once again and thanks to that LYING SNAKE Eight-Seven?! They probably have been educated enough to where we will have NO fleet to go back to! I did that action with Mez knowing it was wrong, that much is true but that's because I cannot take it anymore. This ridiculous mission, the wasted time, all of it. I can't even tell myself that this is all in service of the Supreme Leader when these orders seem to directly defy the kind that he would give." With a nod of her head, Phasma ended up cluing the trooper in on how she took the words which made this moment, regardless of how it involved bringing up the pain of losing FN-2187, all the more worth it. Now all he needed to do was give a few more words and he'd be done though he'd have to be careful for one slip of the tongue or a simple awkward tone was going to bring him right back to square one and put him in an even worse state.

"So you want to write me up for insubordination?" He began dejectedly. "You go right ahead and do just that. Hell, you can even recommend me for execution if you want to and I'll accept it without any attempt at a fight since at least then, I will be making an example for other troopers to do better than to have another opportunity for me to fail you on the field." Upon hearing the mention of the term "execution", the captain felt an idea pop into her head. The idea was simple in that it was just her bringing both Nines and Mez in to be beheaded in front of the masses which would serve a great purpose in bringing her relief and doing as Nines said but at the same time, she took note of what took place here. FN-2199 didn't just give her some ridiculous cop-out non-answer like he was before, he made certain to lay out his reason in great detail and needless to say, it seemed very believable. Despite the majority of her time being spent on-duty, it was becoming fairly clear to her that a good portion of the troopers who took part in this were either not happy with the decision or they saw this as being nothing more than an excuse to let off some steam while overall not caring about the mission. To them, this was yet another strike to show that Ren as a leader was nothing more than an overly emotional and incompetent child playing dress-up and so to hear that this would manifest in a completely different manner for one of her best troopers was somewhat shocking considering that he seemed to be on board the whole way when it came to these orders but it wasn't unexpected.

While this was on the mind, she couldn't help but think about the armor that the judiciary branch of the Stormtroopers wore and one moment where FN-2199 particularly proved he still had it when he made that incredible example out of that one member of Mez's old group back when they first landed which was when the idea finally came up, the idea that not only would help the trooper to keep to his promise of allowing Mez to be the problem that he dealt with while also keeping him away from anything that would result in another foolish act like this.

"The reasoning you have given me has proven to be sufficient." Phasma began coldly. "I require nothing more from you." At that point, Nines was expecting Phasma to walk away and leave him with his shame for the way in which she said that sounded as if his words meant nothing to her and that no matter what, he was done for. Much to his surprise however, she continued on.

"In the verbal sense that is. What I now need is for you to simply follow me back to the high command for after some consideration, I think it's time you went through a reassignment."

 _Meanwhile..._

Once again, Kylo found himself in a very private place, that dark alcove in which he was kneeling as he always did during times of frustration and grief. And when he spoke, his voice took on a tone different from the one he usually employed when conversing with others. There were no orders to be issued here, no pathetic underlings to command. The one with whom he was presently communing would understand everything Ren chose to say, in whatever voice he chose to employ. No need here and now for intimidation, for fear in any way. After all, the Supreme Leader made it abundantly clear what the true form of that looked like. Kylo Ren spoke, and the object of his words listened in silence.

"Forgive me for coming here again. I thought I could go on awhile without your help, without the need of even the tiniest hint of your guidance."

The dark warrior stared up at the item, that familiar charred helmet of Lord Vader, his helmet-less expression being filled with shame and disappointment as he gave his confession.

"But unfortunately, my efforts have proven to be foolish. If I had the sense to come here earlier, my sisters would've finally been brought here." Trembling slightly, the man rose from where he had been kneeling and slowly eased himself towards the ghostly mask, his eyes slowly closing right as his hands lowered to gently touch it.

"But now I realize I need you and your guidance." He began, all the while trying as hard as he could to keep his voice from shaking. "Please... show me, Grandfather. Link me to my sisters, help me see them."

* * *

( _Undisclosed Campsite_ )

Normally or at least as normal as his life could get before he jumped into the mess, Kanan Jarrus would see someone like Bols after a night of heavy drinking and a few wrong turns too many down some dark alleyways and normally due to either bad luck or just terrible timing? They tended to be the kind who spoke with their fists far more frequently than with their words and when he first landed on the planet, that trend decided that it just had to continue on much to his annoyance.

Thankfully, Bols was as far from being one of those rash and violent punks as one could be and at no point was that more apparent than when they finally made their approach to the decently sized makeshift camp. Upon spotting the bundles of charred twigs and branches, the big guy wasted no time in proceeding to help Spear in replacing the wood and before they knew it, they had a good healthy bonfire blazing which would soon have pieces of Danger Beast roasting over the flames and once that meal finished? It was without any hint of hesitation that Bols dug into a leg with each bite coming at a faster pace and being far larger than the last which prompted a chuckle from the aged warrior, a chuckle that did not go unnoticed.

"Hmm?" Bols questioned, his voice somewhat hindered by the piece of half-chewed meat sitting in his mouth.

"Oh it's nothing." Kanan replied with a smirk as he sliced off a small piece of the beast with his lightsaber. "It's just that the way you're tearing into that reminds me of someone." The big man cocked his head to the side.

"And who would that be?" Quickly Spear's gaze jumped to her master, her face full of concern which prompted a quick hand gesture and smile from the old man.

"He was a good friend of mine. In a lot of ways he was kind of like you. Big, powerful and looking as if they can rip the arms off the average man." As soon as Bols swallowed his meal, he leaned in a bit closer with his chin resting in his hand and a face full of intrigue.

"Were there any differences?" Kanan couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

"Quite a few. I mean you ca-uh... could even tell from his appearance since he was a big Lasat." In a moment that couldn't be replicated, the warrior watched as the eyebrows of both his apprentice and new ally cocked upward right as they let out one word.

"Lasat?"

"It's a type of alien species, normally covered in purple fur. I personally know them for the almost psychopathic smile they can sometimes give when they're given a chance to lay the smackdown on someone they absolutely despise and in this case, I knew one who took quite a big portion of food when we'd have meals." As he went down for another piece of meat, Kanan couldn't help but give a small smile as the harsh but somehow friendly tone of a certain Lasat entered his mind and it was with that his thoughts then cycled through quick glimpses of his many past adventures, adventures that were filled to the brim with memorable levels of madness and it was the kind that would get most people locked up if they were to say it to a certain person for it had moments such as spaceships crashing, people laughing after an escape from a narrow demise, an evil empire being continuously outsmarted and more.

"What was his name and if you don't mind, can you tell me what happened to him?" Kanan froze in response to the big man's question, his expression going blank for a moment with Spear looking on with concern but not before flashing Bols a look. The happy memories began to shift and twist and much like his expression, they became something far darker. Where there was screams of joy, there was screams of terror. The laughter shifted into groans of pain. Even the sounds that already were a bit more violent by nature such as destruction of ships somehow managed to become far more sinister with the addition of the last hisses of life of an engine that is just barely holding on, the alarm loudly blaring for a few seconds before being silenced and worst of all, there was the crackling panicked screams and grunts of friends over another comm-line with the only other noise he could hear behind it being the faint breaths of an approaching force.

A force whose figure suddenly made him feel cold, as if his presence had never truly left him. Upon noticing his change in expression, the former Jaeger's own became filled with concern as well as regret.

"I didn't mean to bring anything painful up." He began. "I'm deeply sorry." After a few more seconds of silence, of thinking about... that day, the warrior let out a pained sigh before proceeding to sit back.

"It's okay," He replied, his voice a little lower and more grave. "you had no idea, much like Spear when we first met and considering we are both going to be together for awhile? I might as well tell you what happened." Right before he began, Kanan closed his eyes and commanded his lungs to let out a deep breath in an effort to settle his heart-rate and the thoughts that were raging in his head. "To start off, that Lasat friend of mine was named Zeb. He was one of the strongest members of a group I was a part of."

"What kind of group was it?" Bols asked.

"Kind of a small rebel group, a little ragtag in some ways but considering it was filled with a ton of people I called family? I wouldn't have it any other way since it was either that or being gunned down by the Empire or worse, you have a run-in with some truly black-hearted smugglers that wanted nothing more than to sell an organ or two of yours in some dark alley. I first joined up with them when I met this truly beautiful pilot by the name of Hera Syndulla and before that..." Kanan stopped for a brief moment, the gears in his head struggling to decide if they should continue to turn and let him reach even further back into his painful history. After a few seconds, he pressed on with that thought being halted.

"Well all you need to know is that my life before that point wasn't very good and that I often got in with the wrong crowd." Despite knowing he wouldn't be the most willing to press on, Bols still wound up letting his curiosity get to him as he then popped a question to Kanan.

"What are we talking about exactly when you say 'wrong crowd'?" Seeing that it wasn't too much trouble, the warrior decided to answer it with ease.

"The kind that often churns out headlines so vile you end up feeling sick to your stomach as soon as you take the first glance. I wasn't a part of the 'action' part of it thankfully. Mostly I took part in the drinking side but anyways. To make a long story short I led that kind of life for a long while and if it wasn't for Hera? I probably would still be involved in all that. After that we picked up a kid named Ezra, Zeb and this young girl named Sabine and from that point on, we found ourselves locked in all sorts of crazy adventures with most of it involving battling the Empire."

"The Empire?" Bols began, his eyebrow raised knowingly. "Wait a moment, you don't happen to be referring to..."

"I am referring to THAT Empire." Kanan interrupted, his head cocked to the side. "I'm surprised you actually know them."

"When the First Order infiltrated the Capital, I heard one of their generals go on about them and how the First Order basically rose from their ashes." Despite how inappropriate it was and how his reaction should've been more in line with someone who just found out a bounty hunter has targeted them or in other words, he should've been gasping with shock? Kanan couldn't help but let out a chuckle in response to the news.

"Just like dealing with those blasted TIE Fighters. You take out one and two or three more will immediately pop out of their hiding place." After taking a few seconds to chomp down on another piece of his Danger Beast, he continued. "And now that you've brought that to my attention, I guess I don't need to tell you how our efforts to battle the Empire ended."

"But considering what the general said, he mentioned something about the Empire falling." Kanan let out a sigh.

"If that was the case, we weren't really around for that since following a terrible attack by one of the Empire's toughest military leaders? Things took an awful sharp turn when HE showed up." The sound of mechanical breaths began to fill the warrior's mind as he continued onward. "This tall man in dark armor, he was one of the Empire's most deadly and unfortunately, he just so happened to find out where we were following this one battle over the planet of Scarif and following the destruction of one of their weapons." Her eyes once again wide with concern, Spear watched as her master's hands began to twitch.

"He first took an ally of ours. He went by Fulcrum and a few hours later, we saw a distress call coming from inside one of their capital ships. At first we weren't sure about going but due to how close he and Zeb were, we felt it was worth a shot..." The sounds of screams once again began to enter his mind, halting his thought process for a few moments.

"That was... when we saw him." He said with a sigh. "We also saw what was... left of our ally and from that point on it became a..." The volume of the screams began to raise in both level and clarity to the point where he could even make out a few words which prompted him to grimace for a few moments before settling himself right as Spear proceeded to set her right hand on his back.

"I tried as hard as could to stop him. Before one of them fell I took my saber and swung as hard as I could, ready to stand my ground and defend my family no matter what and even then, I wasn't strong enough."

"KANAN RUN!" A distinctly female voice called out in his head, the tone being clearly stricken with fear.

"And because of that, I... I-I was..."

"Breathe." In response to his apprentice's recommendation, the older warrior did just that and took in a deep breath though even though it seemed as if he was relaxed, it only took listening to how his voice was now slightly shaky to see just how much pain this caused him.

"I couldn't stop him and instead could only watch as he tore through everything and everyone I cared about and if it wasn't for Hera and Ezra stepping in when they did t-to... make that opening I wouldn't even be here right now." Taking another moment to let out a breath, Kanan looked down at his halfway devoured meal and stared at it for a few seconds as the memory of Ezra clashing sabers with the terrifying menace for one final time just so that he can launch the shuttle played back in his mind with the picture he received of it being disturbingly clear. This lasted what felt like an entire minute before he finally chucked the piece of meat behind his head.

"And to be honest, there are some points where I wish that actually did happen instead. At least then I could go from an incredibly lonely galaxy to a hopefully happy afterlife." In response, Spear turned to her master and proceeded to wrap him up in a simple friendly hug.

"Don't say things like that. Your friends gave their lives so that you can keep going, you know they wouldn't want to see you go."

"I know." Kanan said in frustration, right as he began to rub the bridge of his nose. "I tell myself that almost every time these thoughts pop into my head." The last few images right then flashed through his mind. Images that arguably brought him even more pain as the sight of a familiar face, stained by a murderous glare as well as the terrifying gleam of yellow eyes which prompted him to let out another pained sigh.

"That doesn't make it hurt any less."

* * *

( _Imperial Capital_ )

Despite the bars, ultimately they were unnecessary considering the strength of the First Order in comparison to the single green-haired occupant who was shackled tightly to the wall with the only motion he was able to perform being that he could wiggle his lower half. In most dreams he had where he was captured or at least in most of the novels he read, there was the thought that he would make a valiant effort to break free from his chains and without triggering even a single alarm, he would slip out the base with grace and live to fight another day while he made great haste back to his base.

However, as was to be expected when one bases some of their information on what basically amounted to fairy tales, he ultimately found out that the real deal was as far from his imagination as he could get and instead of feeling like a hero who was ready to make a daring escape? He instead found himself in a depression over how he had gotten into this mess which was based not on a daring rescue gone wrong or a last ditch effort to save a friend like the books would suggest but rather it was thanks to him not being able to perform the simple task of keeping his anger in check.

And so sunk was he in that terrible depression that not only was he almost completely motionless, he scarcely reacted when the troopers came in to beat him. Delivered with practiced skill, designed to hurt but not result in permanent damage, the blows fell intermittently, at different times of the day on different parts of his body or at least, that was what happened during the day. Night on the other hand was an entirely different story for the beatings this time were not only far more painful but they were all the more grisly. In spite of this, it didn't matter if he was being jabbed in the stomach several times or possibly taking a blaster at low power settings to the legs for he still tried his best to shut out every bit of the pain and while he mostly succeeded during the early parts of the day, the night was when officially he had given up. Luckily for him, he just so happened to pick the end of the first night to give up which earned him a grace period of rest.

However he knew that as soon as daylight came, he might as well be handed a postcard that simply read "Welcome to Hell" for he knew what he was in for as evidenced by the two troopers who were standing guard in front of him. Beatings that would get progressively more vicious over the course of the day and he'd receive several questions he'd have to try his damnedest to shut out until they eventually decided to bring in someone like Kylo Ren or Esdeath and if it did reach that point? He knew he may have to just kiss the very idea of holding out goodbye for there was no way in which he was surviving that.

"So, FN-2518. How long you think we're gonna be guarding this one?" The trooper on the left questioned with their feminine tone.

"That all depends on Commander Ren's temper and patience FN-1517." The second female troop replied. "And if it's particularly bad? We probably won't have to wait even a minute before he asks us about if we've captured any prisoners."

"Wonderful," Lubbock mentally said with a roll of his eyes. "I'm not only gonna die but I'm also being guarded by chicks. This is not the way I thought I'd go out."

"Oh alright but wait a second, isn't Ren almost alwa-"

"Yep." FN-2518 interjected right as she leaned back into the cell, taking a moment to knock on it with the back of her hand. "Hey you, got some good news for ya. Turns out you more than likely won't be spending much longer in here meaning you'll have a chance to take a nice long nap... a dirt nap that is." Lubbock ended up cringing at the forced joke right as 1517 facepalmed.

"Are you kidding me?" Quickly, 2518 turned to face her comrade.

"What?"

"That has been the third time I've heard you make a joke that painful." 2518 wasted no time in crossing her arms.

"Oh lighten up. You know with our line of work sometimes you need a good joke or two to take the edge off."

Somewhat flustered, 1517's tone changed. "Really well in my opinion when it comes to this line of work it's either you keep your mouth shut and take things seriously or crack that inappropriate joke to a commanding officer and count the seconds that it takes for them to demote or kill you."

2518 let out a scoff. "Whatever, point is we won't have to be seeing his mug any long-" The both of them found themselves immediately distracted by the sound of blaster fire in the distance with each blast being followed up by a few stomach-churning groans and the occasional yelp. Curiosity soon found itself worming its way into the green-haired prisoner's brain as he began to tune his ears to the noises outside which was mostly comprised of a few shouts and the aforementioned groans and yelps. Realizing how bad this could be, the two troopers inside both gave a nod to each other right as they cocked their blasters, ready to face whoever was outside the steel door. Soon, Lubbock heard the dull but nevertheless enjoyable clattering of armor and the sound of mechanisms whirring a familiar noise that caused his expression to perk up.

Before the troopers could react, the door to the was knocked completely off its hinges and sent flying through the air with only one of the troopers just barely being able to get out of the way which led to her watching as her comrade was completely crushed against the bars with the force of the impact causing a sickening crack to ring out and a tiny bit of blood to splatter on Lubbock's shirt.

"2518!" Was all the other trooper could get out since as soon as her gaze landed on the silver-haired attacker, a red blaster bolt had planted itself rather neatly into her skull, thus causing her to fall lifelessly onto her back. Almost immediately upon seeing his eyepatch wearing rescuer who had what appeared to be a standard Stormtrooper blaster in hand? He couldn't help but smile with relief.

"And to think I was just about ready to give up." Lubbock said right as Najenda broke down the bars of the prison before proceeding to free him from his restraints but not before landing a quick and unexpected slap to the face with her only fleshy hand.

"That's for both the fact you got captured AND that you were nearly ready to give up." The boss said, her voice filled with disappointment.

"Thanks for the gift." came Lubbock's incredibly sarcastic reply. "But as you can see? I think I've paid for that already."

"Well I'm just making it official." The boss replied right as she slung the man over her shoulders before proceeding to make a daring dash down the hall she came through.

* * *

( _Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle_ )

As the shuttle lightly shook and jostled during its descent, Tatsumi couldn't help but feel a wave of nervous speculation wash over him which wasn't exactly what he wanted nor was it what he needed, especially when considering both that this was the time he'd normally be sleeping and his current mental state which was gradually deteriorating in its efforts to comprehend just who or what it exactly was that tall thin figure that spoke to his master. Granted, he knew what name it ended up giving itself and how it apparently came into view but just the idea, the very notion that someone from that great of a distance could just appear like that with the help of the Force was both very intriguing... and extremely terrifying when thrown into certain hands which was a thought process that eventually led to him thinking about how people such as Esdeath or Kylo would use it and that was where he couldn't help but take in a big gulp of air in an attempt to keep himself from having a panic attack.

He knew that when he had accepted Kylo's offer to become his apprentice that he will have taken his first step into larger, much darker world but something like this? This was just too much and it seemingly served no other purpose than to cause the voices to once again go off in his head in an attempt to either drive him back to the light or just to the point of insanity. As soon as it got to that point, the boy remembered the words of his master and decided that as he was waiting for them to land, he'd take a moment to breathe and meditate.

Unfortunately for him however, that was when he heard a few beeps coming from the cockpit followed by a voice.

"General Vitani, I think you may want to take a look at this." Quickly, the former Imperial made her way to the very front of the ship, her eyes very quickly glancing over the technological marvels of the controls and setting themselves on the crackling holographic image of a Stormtrooper officer.

"What is it?" Vitani questioned. With both the situation and his commanding officer's rushed tone now being fresh in his mind, the trooper wasted no time in listing off the problem.

"Security footage and trooper reports have both been buzzing about a silver-haired woman breaking into one of our prisons and taking the green-haired man known as Lubbock." Immediately, the older woman's eyes widened and her ears perked right as memories of two people matching those very descriptions came to mind, feeling as they began to surge from within her head. After a few seconds, she couldn't help but give off a smirk right as she gave off a small mental recital.

"At last I have you. At last I will have my revenge." As soon as that was finished, she once again began to vocalize.

"Call back all personnel right now." She ordered, her expression becoming incredibly serious. "Direct them all outside and try cornering that woman. Use your best troopers if you can." Baffled by this, the officer of course began to retort.

"But ma'am, that's an incredible ri-"

"It seems like that to you." Vitani interjected. "But that's because you don't understand the history that the two of us have."

"Um ma'am, with all due respect? History really doesn't matter here. It's either we kill the enemy no-"

"And risk me coming down there and making sure that your pieces are spread out hundreds of miles apart from each other?" The officer remained silent for a few moments, his body language showing nothing more than pure bewilderment with a slight hint of fear. After a few more seconds the trooper straightened himself out and quickly voiced his reply in a voice that was incredibly meek.

"Right away commander." Right then and there, the hologram flickered for a few more seconds before proceeding to break apart. Her smirk having now returned, she quickly made her way back to her seat but not before giving out her next orders to the pilots.

"Try landing inside the Capital, we need to get as close to her as we can and we need to make sure that there is absolutely no escape."

* * *

 _Author's Addendum_ :

 **And there we have another chapter in the bag. Also for those who are keeping track, we now only have 3 more chapters to go though really the final chapter isn't going to be that long where as 33 and 34 are possibly going to end up far longer than expected for the sake of tying up some loose ends, having some action sequences and more. With all that said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and while this would usually be the point where I say I hope to see you next time, I thought I would provide a quick response to a review I received that says the following:  
**

 _"I will just say once the Disney star wars universe is fake and non canon the last movie just proved what i knew for years. I think you should add more expanded universe characters jaina solo, jagged fel, kyle katan and others and the one and true luke Skywalker grandmaster of the jedi order and the most powerful jedi ever and an avatar of light. In my opinion the first order should work better as a terrorist group by the galactic aliance, the confederation and imperial remnant and waging a war against them. And i say Darth Caedus is far more powerful than his rip off. don't mess up luke Skywalker don't be a conformist."_

 **Now for some people, you might be thinking that ultimately it's pointless to respond to this but considering we're nearing the end of the story and I haven't had one of these kinds of comments before? I thought I might as well respond to this and to start off, let me just say that the behavior being expressed here is something I do not condone in any way. I understand disliking the new canon since hey, film and literature are subjective therefore it's perfectly okay if someone simply doesn't like it. I mean I even have a few people who like this story but they ultimately don't like TFA and/or TLJ which is totally fine since that is their deal. Where I draw the line however is calling people a conformist for following this canon because I don't know about you but that really doesn't help your case in any way shape or form. If anything, it makes someone like me feel more disinclined to add what this person is suggesting and if I didn't indulge in the EU? I'd probably feel less of a desire to not dig into it because comments like this ultimately make its fanbase look like garbage. Now in terms of the suggestion? It's not that bad of an idea to add more EU characters if I can find a place to fit them into this story but I'm sorry to say that this is focusing purely on the new canon. Granted with it being an AU, Legends elements are being implemented for the sake of making the universe larger and more detailed (Which was especially needed considering back then I believe I did this when TFA was the only piece of this time period we had.) but here's the thing, I am still ultimately trying to think of how this works from a STORYTELLER'S perspective. The reason I put that in all-caps is because it is most important to understand this.  
**

 **I may be a massive fan of Star Wars, that much is obvious if I'm willing to do fanfiction based on the franchise but I like to think that I am an author first and a fan second. Of course I'll freely admit there are points where I feel I didn't balance it as well as I could've but that is ultimately the line of thought I follow because in my opinion? Fanservice means nothing if the story behind it is not good and it especially means nothing if there is no point to the fanservice. Now to be fair, I think as you are writing a fanfiction that if you do want to throw in a little bit of fanservice for the sake of fanservice? That's totally fine so long as you keep it to a small degree but even so, you still have to make sure it doesn't distract from anything. I could totally throw in a character like Jagged Fel or Jaina Solo. As a fan of those characters that would be awesome! However, I have to ask myself two important questions.**

 **Can they be fit into the story and developed either here or in a potential sequel?**

 **Do they even fit for the plot I'm crafting?**

 **And currently the answer to both of those is a clear-cut, big fat "No.". With that said, if anyone reading this and you are one of those people that wants more EU characters? If you're willing to be kind about it then maybe I'll see what I can do. However, I am an author, not a lapdog. I make the kind of stories I want to make and if you can't accept that? Well I don't know how you've stayed on this long but you're just going to have to deal with it. Much like how film directors and script writers don't have to make the exact film you want, I don't have to make the fic exactly the way you want it. If I come off as rude or confrontational during this? I do apologize because I am not trying to but at the same time, I am setting the record straight and putting my foot down.**

 **As for lighter details? There was a fun little easter egg I decided to include. The two troopers that are guarding Lubbock's cell are named FN-2518 and FN-1517. On their own the names don't seem like much but they're intended to be references to the release dates of Solo: A Star Wars Story (May 25, 2018) and The Last Jedi (December 15, 2017) respectively.**

 **With all that said, I will see you guys next time.**


End file.
